Freed 2010 North Korean prisoner burned to death in San Diego

A prisoner freed in 2010 from North Korea burned to death over the weekend in a dirt lot in Mission Bay Park, according to Fox 5 San Diego.

38-year-old Aijalon Mahli Gomes, who had recently moved to San Diego from Boston, was freed with the help of President Jimmy Carter in 2010.

According to San Diego Police, officials do not believe his death is the result of homicide. Investigators said he likely died as a result of an accident or suicide.

According to the Fox 5 San Diego, an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer saw Gomes on fire Friday night in the dirt lot near 5200 Pacific Highway. Firefighters and police were called but Gomes was pronounced dead at the scene.

Gomes, a teacher from Boston, Mass., made international headlines in January of 2010 when he was detained in North Korea for illegally entering the country from China.