The Chilton County Sheriff’s Office has released photos of a vehicle believed to have been driven by the suspect in the case of a man found dead in a burning vehicle outside Clanton on Dec. 24, 2011.

Though officials are still awaiting the results of an autopsy, Sheriff Kevin Davis said investigators think the victim, 42-year-old Bobby Bolden of Birmingham, was killed at the scene, in the driveway of a vacant house for sale on County Road 762, off Lake Mitchell Road.

The case is being investigated as a homicide, with the car being set on fire apparently to cover up the crime.

“We have evidence that makes us believe that he came here alive,” Davis said. “There is nothing to lead us to believe that it has anything to do with this particular area. This is just the location they chose to do this. I don’t feel like anyone in that area is in danger.”

The photos were stills taken from a security video camera at a nearby business.

“We’re certain this is our offender’s car,” Davis said. “We’re asking anyone who knows this vehicle or someone who owns one similar to that to let us know.”

The vehicle is believed to be a late model Mazda 3, perhaps 2009 or 2010.

Davis said investigators have not been able to tell from the video anything about the driver of the vehicle, or whether there were passengers in the vehicle.

The Sheriff’s Office can be reached at 755-4698, or anyone with information can call the department’s secret witness line at 755-7898.