Bangor - A report of an early morning car fire turned into a gruesome crime scene in Bangor.

The case is still in the early stages, and it started at about 3:30 Monday morning when a woman heading to work noticed the flames.

"As I was driving by I realized that there was nobody around," said Katrina Walls. "So I pulled in and saw a car completely engulfed in flames and drove up to it to see if there was anyone there that I had missed and there was no one to be seen so I backed away from the giant fire and called 9-1-1."

When fire crews doused the flames, three bodies were found inside the car was in the back of a parking lot with nothing else nearby, leaving police detectives with a lot of work to do.

"Just the identification process that can take some time you have three victims, one medical examiner and the Medical Examiner's Office has to do all that work and it takes time, and they need to get it right." said Bangor Sgt. Paul Edwards. "And they will get it right and we're going to find out what the cause of death is."

The fact the car was left in a business parking lot is helping police because the fire was reportedly caught by nearby surveillance cameras. The employers there were told not to discuss what was caught on the cameras.

But it reportedly showed a car pull in, and minutes later the fire is visible.

"We're looking at surveillance videos on all those videos up and down Target and Hammond Street," said Sgt. Edwards. "A lot of people have them now, a lot of businesses have them now, it's been very helpful we're still pouring through that, we really have nothing to give as far as information that we have seen on these videos, I'm not at liberty to, I haven't even seen them myself, but we are working through some of these videos to determine more information, yes."

It took more than 10 hours to process the car and remove the bodies from the vehicle.

As for Walls who was on her way to work when she called 911, and then waited for fire crews to arrive at the scene, it was a very difficult day.

"When I found out there were people inside obviously it was horrifying thinking that I was sitting there waiting for the fire department to arrive as people were burning inside a care so yeah, it was a little traumatic."

The front license plate is from Rhode Island.

But Police have been quick to point out, that does not mean the car, or the people inside were not from Maine.

No names have been released and the investigation continues.

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