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Police seek suspect in murder of NJ woman found in burning car

BOSTON -- Authorities are searching for a man they believe is responsible for the murder of a New Jersey woman found in a burning car with her hands and feed bound on Nov. 3, reports CBS Boston.

The remains of a woman, later identified as 29-year-old Ashley Bortner, were discovered just before midnight in a car parked by the railroad tracks in Bridgewater, about 25 miles south of Boston. Her hands were tied behind her back and to her feet, police said.

Police discovered Bortner's body engulfed in flames, down an embankment in a relatively secluded area after responding to a call of a suspicious vehicle. Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz said investigators believe the woman's body was burned at the scene but that the killing likely happened elsewhere.

Officials have now issued a warrant for a suspect in the killing for the arrest of, 43-year-old Fernando Owens of Dorchester, the father of Bortner's ex-boyfriend, who remains at large.

Cruz said that Owens believes Bortner may have played a role in his son Dominic's death. Dominic was murdered the night before Bortner's burned remains were found.

Owens is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call police.

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