A taxi driver was found stabbed and then burned Thursday night in rural Denton County.

The Freedom taxi driver’s name has not yet been released. Justin firefighters found his body near State Highway 114 and John Day Road, about five miles west of Texas Motor Speedway, as they were extinguishing a grass fire at a petroleum well lease site about 9 p.m.

Denton Sheriff’s Office officials said the man was stabbed in the chest and his throat cut.

The man’s van was found abandoned in tall brush about a mile away, sheriff’s officials said. The front and rear seats had a large amount of blood. No money was found on either the driver or in the cab, and investigators believe the man was robbed then killed. Investigators have not determined whether he was killed in the cab or killed somewhere else and then dumped.

Dogs tracked a scent from the van back to John Day Road and then to Song Bird Estates, a nearby housing development. There, they lost the scent.

Sheriff’s officials said the taxi company told them the driver last had contact with them 7:45 p.m. Thursday. Also, the man’s daughter had been unable to reach him on his cellphone. Taxi company officials were not available for comment Friday morning.