PARADISE . (AP) — Authorities in rural Northern California have found a burning stolen car with three people dead inside.

Butte County sheriff's Sgt. Jason Hail says deputies and firefighters responded to reports of a vehicle fire on a road in Magalia 10 miles northeast of Chico early Thursday. They arrived to find a green Acura sedan engulfed in flames when it was out found three bodies.

Undersheriff Kory Honea tells the Chico Enterprise-Record that two bodies were in the trunk and a third was in the backseat.

Rhonda Maehl who lives nearby tells the Enterprise-Record she heard a big boom but no screams or other cars.

Deputies learned the car had recently been reported stolen to Sacramento police.

Hail says the cause of the deaths and identities of the dead remain unknown.