Wife of WH Aide Found Dead in Burning Car

A Washington lobbyist who was the wife of a White House adviser has been found dead inside a burning car in southeast Washington.

Progress Energy said in a statement Monday that Ashley Turton had died. Property records show she and her husband, Dan Turton, lived at a southeast Washington home where D.C. firefighters found a body in a burning car.

D.C. fire department spokesman Pete Piringer says firefighters were called to a rowhouse and found a car engulfed in flames.

The fire department said there was "nothing sinister" about the fire, and it appears the car may have slowly collided into the garage.

The Metropolitan Police Department is technically handling the case.

Turton was a lobbyist for Progress Energy Inc. Mike Hughes, a spokesman for the Raleigh, N.C.-based company, says co-workers are devastated to hear of Turton's death. He says Turton was the mother of three young children.

Turton joined the company in 2007 after serving as chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro.