Body identified as author, activist

The man whose body was found in a burning car May 31 in Huntington Beach has been identified as Jim Purcey, an author and political activist.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s coroner’s office identified Purcey, 59, as the deceased, although Supervising Deputy Coroner Dan Aikin declined to comment on how the fire occurred.

“As far as cause of death, we’re not releasing any details until we come to a final conclusion,” Aikin said.

A witness called the Huntington Beach Fire Department at 2:55 p.m. May 31 to an underground parking structure at the Pelican Cove apartment complex at 16960 Algonquin St. Firefighters arrived at the structure, where sprinklers had been activated, and put out the fire in about 12 minutes.

Purcey, who was listed on voter registration as living at the Algonquin address, released the apparently self-published book “Am I the Only American Who Thinks This Way?” in 2007. He also ran a website called America In Distress, which outlined ways he believed the government violates individuals’ rights.

“He was writing about things that would be considered Tea Party-esque, maybe even more subversive than that,” said Jack Blood, the host of the program “Deadline Live” on American Freedom Radio.

Martha Werth, a spokeswoman for the fire department, also said the cause of the fire was unknown.