Police in Calgary are investigating four deaths as a quadruple murder case, after locating the body of the owner of a burned-out car that was found earlier this week with three other bodies inside.

Paul Wozney, Acting Insp. with the Calgary Police Service, told reporters Thursday afternoon that a body found Wednesday in a ditch 30 kilometres west of Calgary is that of Hanock Afowerk, age 26.

On Monday, the bodies of Cody Pfeiffer, 25, and two sisters, Glynnis Fox, 36, and Tiffany Ear, 39, were found in Afowerk's burned-out 2011 Chevrolet Cruze in the neighbourhood of Sage Hill.

Wozney said there were “significant traumatic injuries” to all of the bodies, adding that the injuries surprised “some very seasoned investigators.”

“I’m not going to comment on whether these were torture,” he said. “But I will say that this was a brutal set of circumstances.”

Wozney said that, based on a previous criminal history and information from the public, police believe Afowerk was targeted and that Pfeiffer, Fox and Ear may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“The two female victims, Ms. Fox and Ms. Ear, we believe came to know the other victims very recently,” he said during a press conference on Thursday.

“So there isn’t a big history between them,” he added. “I think you could describe that relationship as being fleeting.”

He said both of the women were mothers and the police force “would like to acknowledge the family members suffering in this tragic loss.”

Police believe that a Facebook post made at 3 a.m. Monday suggests that one of the female victims was still alive at that point, according to Wozney.

Police ask that anyone who may have information contact them by calling the non-emergency line at 403-266-1234 or, if they wish to remain anonymous, by calling the homicide tip line at 403-428-8877 or Crime Stoppers.

“We know that people know what happened,” Wozney said. “If they’re scared, if they’re in anyway hesitant to contact us, they can do so anonymously through Crime Stoppers or through our tip line.”

The community of Morley, Alta. has rallied around the two mothers’ grief-stricken families.

Their cousin, Benji Hunter, told CTV Calgary he doesn’t know what to think. “They loved everybody,” he said. “They were good people.”

“We are going to have to get together and start praying hard,” he added.