The body of a man was discovered hanging from a rope while on fire near a homeless encampment in northeast Houston, police said.
The victim, who was not immediately identified, was found around 10 p.m. on Thursday beneath an underpass at 7600 North Loop East following reports of a brush fire, police said early on Friday.
Responding firefighters extinguished the blaze and found the man’s body.
“Officers were informed the male was hanging underneath the middle of the overpass and had suffered burns to his body,” police said in a statement on Friday.
An investigation by homicide detectives is ongoing, police said.
“We do not know the circumstances surrounding the incident,” Houston police Lieutenant Amber Khan told KHOU. “There are no witnesses at this time that have come forward.”
It’s unclear whether the victim—believed to be between 40 and 50 years old—had been set on fire at a nearby homeless encampment or directly beneath the overpass, Khan told the station.
An autopsy conducted by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences is expected to determine a cause of death, but Khan said it was “highly unlikely, almost impossible” that the incident was a suicide.
“He’s not just hanging, there’s also the fire,” Khan told the station.
Anyone with information about the incident should contact Houston police at (713) 308-3600 or Crimestoppers of Houston at (713) 222-TIPS.