19.01.2026 14:34
In the Ödemiş district of İzmir, 33-year-old forestry worker Burak Odabaş, who had been missing for two days, was found dead in his vehicle, burned, in a forested area of Üzümlü neighborhood. The grieving family, speaking about the suspicious death, stated that they believe the incident was neither an accident nor a suicide, emphasizing their suspicion of murder.
Burak Odabaş, a 33-year-old forestry worker from Artvin, was found dead in his burned vehicle after coming to İzmir for work.
The incident occurred in the Üzümlü neighborhood of Ödemiş district. According to the information obtained, Burak Odabaş, a 33-year-old contractor who came from Artvin to Ödemiş for logging work, left his home in the district center around 08:00 on January 16. After his relatives, who had not heard from him again, reported him missing, gendarmerie teams initiated a search operation. As a result of the investigations, it was determined that the vehicle with license plate 53 AY 993, belonging to Odabaş, was completely burned in the logging area of Üzümlü neighborhood, and the young contractor had lost his life inside the vehicle.
"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR IT TO BE AN ACCIDENT OR SUICIDE"
After the incident, family members who came from Bursa and Artvin to Ödemiş claimed that it was a murder case. Father Sefer Odabaş stated that his son was a young man with a high cultural background and no harmful habits, and said:
"Our son came here to carry out the work in the burned areas. We received the news that he was found burned inside his vehicle on Saturday. As a result of our investigations at the scene, we concluded that this could not be an accident or suicide. The place where the vehicle caught fire and the location where it was found are different. He had received his payment that morning, but it is unclear where that money went. Although no work is done in that area on Fridays, it is against the natural course of life for him to go there and for the vehicle to be left on a slope while there is a flat area in the background. This could be a robbery or another incident."
"THERE ARE ALLEGATIONS THAT HE WAS THREATENED"
Uncle Zakir Odabaş emphasized that the position of his nephew's lifeless body was suspicious. He stated that they had heard rumors that his nephew had received threats before, saying, "My nephew's lifeless body was not in the front seat of the vehicle, but in the back. The fact that he was found there without a bed or resting area in the back of the vehicle raises our suspicions. According to the information we received, my nephew was threatened with words like 'Why are you working here?'. It was also said that he had problems with payments with the workers. In our opinion, this incident is a situation disguised as an accident to cover up a murder."
THE FUNERAL AT THE FORENSIC MEDICINE INSTITUTE
After the examinations conducted at the scene, Burak Odabaş's body was taken to the İzmir Forensic Medicine Institute morgue to determine the exact cause of death. It was learned that after a DNA match would be made with the family here, Odabaş would be buried in his hometown of Artvin. A large-scale investigation launched regarding the incident is ongoing.