Wife of White House advisor Dan Turton found dead in burning car

Fire: Ashley Turton, 37, was found dead in a burned out BMW in a garage in Washington this morning



The wife of a White House official was found dead today inside a burning car at her Washington home.

The remains of Ashley Turton, 37, was discovered in her BMW sports utility vehicle after firefighters extinguished the flames.

The car was inside the garage of the home she shared with her husband Dan Turton, 43, and their three children.

Fire and police units responded around 5am this morning after receiving 911 calls from a neighbours, according to fire department spokesman Pete Piringer.

The cause of the crash and why the luxury car caught fire has not yet been determined authorities said.

Mrs Turton had three-year-old twins and a one-year-old.

She worked as a lobbyist for Progress Energy and was likely involved with the merger between the North Carolina based company and Duke Energy which was announced last week.

The back end of the SUV was partly out of the garage as if the vehicle was entering or leaving when the fire started, authorities said.

'The leading theory is accidental [that] the car crashed through the garage doors and... was found on fire in the garage area', Mr Pringer said.

'There were some unusual circumstances - just the way the car was, low-speed, significant fire, things like that.

For the most part, the fire was confined to the area of origin', Mr Pringer said.

Metropolitan Police Lt. Nicholas Breul said that the incident is a joint investigation by the fire and police departments.

'This could be just a tragic freak accident', said Mr Breul. 'And that is why we're crossing our t's and dotting our i's, because it is a little freaky.

He added: 'We need to figure out why. But there is no indication that there was any
crime'.

Two fire trucks and a half-dozen police cars were parked outside the home as concerned neighbours watched authorities investigate the wreckage.

Police said the fire caused significant damage to the car and also affected parts of the brick home.

Mrs Turton had served as chief of staff to veteran Democratic legislator Rosa DeLauro before moving on to her current position as Washington-based lobbyist for utility giant Progress Energy.

'Ashley was a valued employee whose insight and hard work had been critical on so many of our legislative and regulatory issues', Bill Johnson, president and chief executive of the company said.

'She was also a dear friend to many of us and this news is very hard to take.'

Her husband is the White House's deputy director of legislative affairs for the U.S. House. His position means he is the point of contact for President Obama on legislation moving through the House.