Studio City Burned Vehicle Body Identified

A man whose body was found in the trunk of a burned-out Toyota Camry was identified today as 50-year-old Russell R. Rathert by the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner.
  
Firefighters sent to a car fire on Radford Avenue under the Ventura (101) Freeway in Studio City about 3 a.m. Tuesday put out the blaze and found the body in the trunk, police at the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Station said.
  
Authorities noticed a ``suspicious device'' about 11 a.m., evacuated some nearby homes, called for a Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad and closed a stretch of the freeway.
  
Rathert's body was eventually removed, and the freeway was reopened about 2 p.m.
  
Police did not disclose to whom the car was registered. ABC7 reported that the car was 1989 Toyota Camry.
  
Anyone with more information about the death was urged to call homicide detectives at (818) 623-4075 or (877) LAPD-24-7.