Dead Body Found In Car At Miami Gas Station
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – It's a bizarre story that sounds like something out of the movie "Weekend at Bernies" except it is no laughing matter in this latest case.
Miami Police homicide detectives are trying to determine if a woman was driving around Miami-Dade County with a man's body in her car or if she stopped at a gas station when she noticed something was wrong.
This story unfolded when just before noon Tuesday when a call came in to 911 about the body of a man in a car at a Shell gas station at Northwest 54th Street and 7th Avenue.
Miami Police homicide detectives rushed to the scene and questioned the unidentified woman after the body of a man in his early 30s was found inside her silver Nissan Versa.
"She basically drove around. She's the one whose body was in the car at the gas station," said Miami Police officer and spokeswoman Frederica Burton.
Burton told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "We're not sure if she's the person who called 911 or if someone else called 911."
Burton said detectives told her the woman may have been with two other women. They were seen interviewing a number of women as well at the gas station.
As the woman was being questioned by police, she became agitated and started banging her head on the police car window when an unidentified friend showed up and started speaking with police.
After the woman was questioned and identified by police, she was allowed to leave with the friend who showed up at the scene. That friend told D'Oench, "I have nothing to say. I have no comment."
A neighbor who identified himself as "Bellevue" said he had spoken with people on the scene including those who know the woman and said, "I heard the lady in the car was the girlfriend. And the man whose body was found was the boyfriend."
"Bellevue" was asked how he thought the man died after speaking with people on the scene.
"A drug overdose, or something like that," he said.
Officer Burton said, "We really don't know the cause of death. This is an open investigation."
Neighbor Roger Johnson, who has near the Shell station for more than 40 years, said he had never heard of any story like this before.
"Well it is strange," he said. "I think something is wrong if she was driving around with a dead body in her vehicle."
"To me it sounds like something out of a horror movie on TV," he said. "This is simply unbelievable."
It's not known if the man's body had any signs of trauma.
"This is Miami," said Johnson. "Lots of strange things happen in Miami."
Officer Burton said, "If you know anything about this case,' call Miami Police homicide investigators."
D'Oench also discovered that the Shell station has at least 9 surveillance cameras. But the surveillance tape is not being released at this time.
Police say the names of those involved are not being released either as they continue their investigation.
