Authorities are investigating after two bodies were found burned beyond recognition following a car fire in New Jersey Friday.
People who live near the scene on East 28th Street in Paterson say they distinctly heard two gunshots ring out, then saw the car erupt in flames minutes later.
Law enforcement sources say the men in the car were shot in the head execution-style. A motive hasn't been determined, but investigators are looking into whether drugs were involved, sources said.
Firefighters had to cut open the roof of the vehicle, which appeared to be an Audi S line, the automaker's top-spec trim model, to pull the bodies out. One law enforcement source said the remains were so charred investigators couldn't immediately ascertain the race or sex of the victims.
Dental records are being sought to help identify the victims, sources say.
Late Friday afternoon, the mother of the 27-year-old man who had the car, Aaron Anderson, arrived at the scene after being interviewed by police. She told News 4 that her son has not been answering his phone.
"I've been calling him and it's going to voicemail," said the mother, who only gave her first name, Michelle. "I would have heard from him."
"We're concerned," said Anderson's father, Thurston Anderson. "We have nothing definite so we wanted to look at the spot. We're not sure yet. I'm hoping nothing happened."
Dental records are being sought to help identify the victims, sources close to the investigation say.
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No arrests have been made, but police are checking out footprints seen making paths in the snow through two nearby backyards.
A neighbor who lives in one of the homes, Maria Rivera, says the scene is frightening.
"Yesterday the fence was fine. Nobody from my family walked through there, we have no idea who those footprints belong to," she said in Spanish.
