Report: Burning body found along rural Calif. road

ALPINE, Calif. - A burning body was discovered Sunday on a rural Alpine, California road, about 23 miles outside of San Diego, reports CBS affiliate KFMB.

An employee of Sweetwater Authority, a public water agency, found the body just before 5 a.m. and contacted the sheriff's department, Lt. Glenn Giannantonio told the station.

The body was reportedly "still smoldering" when deputies arrived.

Police are conducting a death investigation. It's not clear how the person died, or whether it could have been a "homicide, a suicide, or something else," Giannantonio told the station.

The station reports the dirt road where the body was discovered is remote and surrounded by ranch properties.

The sheriff's department's Homicide Detail, personnel from the Bomb-Arson Unit and the crime lab are all investigating, reports the station.

It's not clear whether officials have yet been able to identify the body.