Italian authorities have identified a charred body discovered in Eboli, near Salerno, as 53-year-old Luigi Esposito and opened a homicide investigation, the Salerno prosecutor's office said.
Esposito was identified after an empty car registered in his name was found nearby, the prosecutor's office said. Investigators believe he was killed before his body was set on fire. The remains were recovered on agricultural land near the SS 7 bis highway and Via Contrada Bivio Cioffi during firefighting operations.
Firefighters and Carabinieri officers, including forensic specialists, responded to the scene, accompanied by a medical examiner and a deputy prosecutor. An autopsy will determine whether death was caused by the flames or other means. No documents or other identifying items were found on the body, which was initially so severely burned that even the victim's sex could not be established. Investigations to reconstruct the circumstances of the killing are ongoing.