Authorities have positively identified the body of a man found Wednesday in a burned out car in northwest Missouri’s Harrison County as that of a father wanted in connection with an Iowa Amber Alert. The process of identifying the body of an infant found in that car, and to determine the cause of their deaths, continues.
The man has been identified as 33-year-old Elvis Habibovic. Police in the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale had been looking 9-month old Logan Habibovic. An Amber Alert was issued for him early Wednesday morning with the belief that he’d been abducted by his father, Elvis.
The vehicle referenced in that alert matched the description of the burned vehicle found in a conservation area in Harrison County that contained the bodies.
“We’ve been able to identify Elvis through dental records,” said Josh Eckerson, Harrison County Sheriff. “The child’s DNA has been sent to Jefferson City to the Highway Patrol Lab along with DNA from the mother to get a positive ID on the child.”
Eckerson said the official cause of death is still undetermined.
“We speculate he piped in the fumes from the tailpipe intro the car,” Eckerson said. “The actual cause of the fire is still undetermined.”
The State Fire Marshall is assisting with the investigation.
“They’ve collected some samples from the crime scene to try to determine if there was any accelerant that may have been used,” Eckerson said.
Eckerson said he does not believe there was a third party involved but believes Elvis drove to the conservation area intending to commit suicide and murder.
Nadia Thacker, KFEQ, contributed to this report