Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators are trying to learn the identity of a woman who placed a toddler in a burning SUV and then entered the vehicle herself before both were burned to death in Willowbrook on Thursday night.

Witnesses reported seeing the woman and child standing outside the SUV at Athens Park in the 300 block of West 124th Street while it started to burn, the sheriff’s department said in a news release. Officials haven’t determined how the fire started.

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As the flames grew larger, “the woman kept getting in and out of the car,” authorities said. Witnesses described the child as being between 3 and 4 years old.


At one point, the woman placed the child in the car alone, then eventually climbed in herself, officials said.

“People in the park yelled for her to get out of the car, but she ignored them. The adult woman and child were quickly overcome by the flames and were pronounced dead at the scene,” sheriff’s officials said.

Both bodies are “charred” beyond recognition and have not been identified, coroner’s officials said. Autopsies are pending.

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