The coroner’s office has ruled that a 20-year-old man whose body was found inside a fully engulfed pickup truck near McHenry in May died by suicide.
The McHenry Township Fire Protection District and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 11:23 p.m. on May 11 to the area of West Ringwood Road and South Solon Road in unincorporated McHenry.
McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Communication Specialist Emily Matusek-Baker said deputies responded to a call of a car on fire near the intersection.
Deputies arrived to find a gray 2019 Chevrolet Colorado truck fully engulfed in flames, Matusek-Baker said.
Firefighters arrived and pulled a hose line to begin extinguishing the blaze.
After firefighters extinguished the fire, a body was discovered inside the pickup truck, Matusek-Baker said.
A search warrant filed in McHenry County Circuit Court by a detective said the body was in the passenger compartment of the truck and was burnt beyond recognition.
Solon Road was shut down while emergency crews were on the scene.
The McHenry County Coroner’s Office was called to the scene.
The office was unable to immediately make a positive identification of the body due to severe burns and DNA testing was conducted.
The coroner’s office told Lake and McHenry County Scanner in late June that they positively identified the victim as Ravinder Saini, 20, of Prairie Grove.
The search warrant said there was a “very strong” odor of gasoline emitting from the passenger compartment of the truck. A gasoline container and lighter were in the vehicle.
On Friday, the coroner’s office reported that they had determined Saini’s cause of death was the inhalation of products of combustion and thermal injuries due to automobile fire. His manner of death was ruled a suicide.