DALTON, GA – Authorities are investigating a suspected homicide and arson after a woman was found dead inside a burning home early Saturday morning on Grimes Street in Dalton.

According to the Dalton Police Department, firefighters were dispatched to a house fire at 313 S. Grimes Street at approximately 5:47 a.m. Saturday. While searching the structure, firefighters discovered the badly burned body of a woman inside the home.

Due to the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death, the Dalton Fire Department requested assistance from law enforcement and investigative agencies. The scene was secured as investigators from the police department, the Whitfield County Coroner’s Office, and the Georgia State Fire Marshal’s Office began a joint investigation.

Officials said the victim’s identity has not yet been positively confirmed and will not be released until an examination by the medical examiner’s office is completed and next of kin have been notified. Investigators believe they know the identity of the victim but are withholding her name at this time.

While officers were already on scene, police received a call from a woman who reported that her brother had told her he killed his girlfriend at the Grimes Street residence. The caller requested a welfare check at the home. Police said the individual named by the caller, who resides in Indiana, had already been identified as a person of interest in the case.

Investigators also determined that the victim’s vehicle was missing from the scene and entered the vehicle information into a national database as stolen. At approximately 9:30 a.m., Dalton investigators were notified that the Kentucky State Patrol had located the vehicle south of Lexington and initiated a pursuit.

The pursuit ended when the vehicle crashed, killing the driver. Authorities have not yet made a positive identification of the person who died in the crash. Release of that individual’s identity is pending confirmation and notification of next of kin.

The investigation remains ongoing. Police said their Crime Scene Unit was delayed in entering the burned structure due to toxic fumes inside the home. Investigators were able to begin processing the interior of the residence shortly after noon on Saturday.

Anyone with information related to the case is encouraged to contact the Dalton Police Department.