ON Saturday, September 25, at approximately 1:30 a.m., Ridge Meadows frontline officers responded to a report that a black pickup truck was on fire at the intersection of Park Lane and Vernon Trail in the 21700-block of 136 Avenue.

The Maple Ridge Fire Department attended and extinguished the fire at which point a body was located inside of the truck.

The Ridge Meadows Serious Crime Unit (SCU) initially attended the scene. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has now taken conduct of this investigation.

It is still in the early stages of the investigation and, at this time, it is unknown if this is related to the Lower Mainland Gang Conflict.

Investigators are appealing to members of the public who may have been in this area of Maple Ridge around 1:30 a.m. for any dashcam video or any other information that could assist in this investigation.

Of note, the black pickup truck would not have had a muffler, so it would have been very loud as it was travelling through Maple Ridge and the surrounding areas, police said.