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Coroner IDs victim of car crash as journalist Michael Hastings

Michael Hastings participates in the Guardian's "Post-Truth Politics & The Media's Role" discussion at The LongView Gallery on May 1, 2012 in Washington, DC.
Michael Hastings participates in the Guardian's "Post-Truth Politics & The Media's Role" discussion at The LongView Gallery on May 1, 2012 in Washington, DC. Hastings has reportedly died in a car accident.
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Paul Morigi/Getty Images for The Guardian
)

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The man who died in a fiery car accident early Tuesday in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles has been identified as journalist Michael Hastings, according to the county coroner's office.

The results of an autopsy confirm Hastings was the person who died, said Lt. Fred Corral, an investigator with the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. 

Officials had earlier said the body was too badly burned for immediate identification.

Related: Journalist Michael Hastings, 33, dies in LA car crash

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The exact cause of death has been deferred pending results of toxicology tests, Corral said.

Hastings was perhaps best known for his Rolling Stone cover story "The Runaway General," which was credited with ending Gen. Stanley McChrystal's career. The story, which won a 2010 George Polk Award for magazine reporting, portrayed a military that was deeply critical of the Obama administration.

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