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Posted on Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 1:47 p.m.

City workers find body outside mangled car while searching for missing fire hydrant

By Kyle Feldscher

Updated article: Police identify 29-year-old Ann Arbor man found outside vehicle in ditch Ann Arbor city workers went to the area in front of Penske Truck Rental on Plymouth Road Thursday morning to replace a fire hydrant.

After finishing that job, they went in search of the old fire hydrant, walking back toward the business and ending up near a heavily wooded ditch next to the building.

They didn’t find any fire hydrants — instead, they found a mangled Hyundai Santa Fe SUV on its side and a body lying on the ground next to it.

Ann Arbor police Sgt. Paul Curtis said police were dispatched to the area at 9:50 a.m. Thursday and found the person on the ground outside the wrecked car.

It’s a mystery at this point how the car got there, but investigators' initial belief is that the vehicle was traveling east on Plymouth Road, left the roadway and somehow ended up in the ditch.

Initial information from police indicated the body was found inside the car.

Curtis said nothing is known about the person who died. The body was unidentifiable and Curtis could not immediately tell the sex of the deceased.

“It had been there for a while,” he said.

Curtis said the car was found between 50 and 70 feet away from the road and 20 to 25 feet away from the Penske building. The reeds and brush next to the building are between 6 and 10 feet tall, blocking any view of the ditch from the windows on the building. Curtis said he couldn’t see the bottom of the building when he was in the ditch investigating.

It’s unknown how long the Santa Fe and the person had been in the ditch. Sgt. Bill Clock is investigating the crash.

It took two tow trucks from Brewer's Towing to pull the Santa Fe out of the brush and reveal its mangled state. The front passenger wheel had been ripped away, leaving only a hubcap dangling at an unnatural angle. The front bumper was gone and much of the engine was exposed.

The windshield was intact, but many of the other windows on the vehicle were either broken or completely gone. It appeared the car had slid on its driver's side. There was a large dent running horizontally all along the driver’s side of the car. Dirt and reeds clogged the areas between the driver’s door and the body of the vehicle, after it was pulled out of the ditch. Neither driver’s side door opened when investigators pulled on the handles.

Curtis said it was nearly impossible to see the vehicle unless someone actually entered the ditch. In order to move it out of the ditch, police had to call the Ann Arbor Forestry Department to cut away many of the reeds and other plants in the area.

There is a concrete retaining wall in the back of the ditch, which is between the building and the entrance to the Parc Pointe Lane Apartments to the east. A fence near where the Santa Fe is presumed to have entered the ditch was damaged.

There were no obvious tire tracks on Plymouth Road or on the grass on the strip of land between the road and the sidewalk.

Ann Arbor police are investigating this incident. Anyone with any information on the crash is encouraged to call the Ann Arbor police anonymous tip line at 734-794-6939 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800 SPEAK UP (773-2287).
View Vehicle Discovered in Brush in a larger map

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

Comments

Steve Borgsdorf

Thu, Nov 1, 2012 : 5:08 p.m.

A2dotcom you don't work for the police department, and you don't work for the family. You are a news organization and your task is to find and report facts about news. This is news. We need facts. Have you tried to FOIA or otherwise obtain the missing persons report? How about the reports related to the fire hydrant repair? Any interviews with the employees at Penske rental? Hoping that the police will give you something to print might not be adequate.

getyourstorystraightfirst

Tue, Oct 30, 2012 : 10:05 p.m.

are we ever going to find out who this person was or what exactly happened?

Kyle Feldscher

Thu, Nov 1, 2012 : 12:11 p.m.

The complicated nature of this case and the fact that it is the "craziest thing that happens around here in months" is precisely the reason it is difficult to find out information on it right now. Police are still investigating and working with the family of this man. When information is available, it will be printed. However, there's a lot of moving parts here and a lot of things to figure out. I'm in daily conversations with police about it trying to figure out more information to print.

YouAreNotAlwaysRight

Thu, Nov 1, 2012 : 4:30 a.m.

Really... they will give us updated articles about the i-96 shooter with two or three words changed but the craziest thing that happens around here in months gets one bland article with nothing to follow up on.

Munira

Sun, Oct 28, 2012 : 4:25 a.m.

We did report my brother missing 6 weeks ago. It just wasn't serious enough to be looked at. They had to wait to replace a fire hydrant to 'accidentally' run into his car anf body. Oh yea let's ignore all the broken glass and YES there was road marks all on the grass. One last thing it wasn't even in a 'ditch' it was leveled right with Penske

islamdiamond20

Sat, Nov 3, 2012 : 3:03 p.m.

AAPD refused to actively search for him because he's an adult.

justcurious

Thu, Nov 1, 2012 : 2:35 p.m.

Munira, I am so sorry that this has happened to you and your family. Questions need to be answered regarding this so that you can put your mind at ease. Many times we see articles about missing people on here. I don't know why we didn't see one for your brother. May peace be with you.

Munira

Sun, Oct 28, 2012 : 4:12 a.m.

He had a family and friends that loved him. We searched and searched and searched every possible place we could. We seeked help in any possible way but got turned down because 'he's an adult and could go missing if he wants' It just wasn't meant for him to make it home that night. He was out there for 6 weeks all by himself. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Quitcrying

Sat, Oct 27, 2012 : 5:57 a.m.

May peace be with this family during their time of need.

woodyk

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 4:24 p.m.

Arm chair detective questions: Could the car have come off from Pointe Lane? Did the car hit the missing fire hydrant? Did they find the fire hydrant?

Anita

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 11:52 a.m.

So sad, but this person must be missed by someone, at least now they will not have to wonder where they are.....again so sad. Prayers to the people that will be getting a knock at their door.

islamdiamond20

Sun, Oct 28, 2012 : 7:38 p.m.

Thank you very much. He was my cousin and will be missed

bunnyabbot

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 5:58 a.m.

I offer my condolances to this mans loved ones. I normally do not comment on this kind of subject matter. It always seems inappropriate to do so. However after reading other comments I find it distrubing how accident scenarios and armchair detectives are commenting. I'm all for free speech, however I find these to be lacking couth. If you have info pretaining to the accident please call the number at the end of the article, otherwise please think it through before you hit "post my comment"

George K

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 10:11 a.m.

Welcome to the internet. Glad to have you!

Not a valid excuse for a newspaper

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 3:47 a.m.

Wow. That stretch of road is nasty, so no need to jump to hasty conclusions. If they *were* traveling east on Plymouth, then that's at an area on the curve of the road where drivers frequently wander into another traffic lane. I traveled this stretch of road many times a day for 15 years so. I have seen so many narrowly averted accidents, and heard plenty of yhem

Not a valid excuse for a newspaper

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 3:51 a.m.

*them* while living just across from where this accident took place over the years that the unfortunate family may never know the circumstances much better than now. Hoping that they can find some peace in this sad news.

Youwhine

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 3:17 a.m.

Obviously the AAPD Is not paid enough. I mean Sgt Curtis is still wearing sunglasses from 1991.

earsofjustice

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 10:07 p.m.

what a tragedy

David Muzzatti

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 9:50 p.m.

Man, talk about threading the needle. That's a horrendous curb to hit at that speed going east.......and miss the Penske building altogether??

Goodphotographer

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 9:42 p.m.

George K ...It's Hard not to guess about what happened with this one. I would agree with you about the possibility of a medical event - could be why the speed was so fast - to be so far into the brush. Could have been no brakes or an acceleration problem. Then with all the unanswered questions this sad news raises, it could be any one of a number of causes including something sinister like domestic violence. I would think there would have been at least a search for someone or the vehicle in the amount of time for such advanced decomposition. At this point I'm thinking they can't rule out suicide. I hope this person had some family or friends who care and they find closure with regard to the cause.

Youwhine

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 3:19 a.m.

Any of you people ever hear of drunk driving? This crash is not all that spectacular if you consider the possibility of the driver being wasted and/or passed out when the vehicle leaves the road.

George K

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 10:13 p.m.

I really hope it was nothing wrong with the car. I work in Electronic Power Steering (EPS) and I dread the thought of one of our gears just locking up for some odd reason. We go to great lengths to prevent that, but you can never be 100% certain... If it was brakes/accelerometer, you would expect that maybe they could steer away from the woods. Unless they were going so fast that they felt that was the safest option, to test their luck in the woods. Anyways, my point was not to guess about the cause of the event, just to point out that the article only mentioned "the vehicle was traveling east on Plymouth Road, left the roadway and somehow ended up in the ditch". That would be some spectacular crash, to go that far off Plymouth and nobody was a witness?? It seems much more likely they came from Pointe Ln.

Jim

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 9:06 p.m.

Only one possible from NamUs within reasonable timeframe. Unlikely as it is out of state. (Initials ADH). So either the person wasn't registered or perhaps a foreign student? Or a stolen car?

Anna

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 9:46 p.m.

Gotcha, thank you for the legwork.

Jim

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 9:41 p.m.

Only 3 people were registered as a missing person driving a Hyundai Santa Fe. And only one person was missing recently (within 8 months or so). But they were from Nevada or California, so it seems unlikely. I'm sure the police know who it is and are notifying their family. But odd that no one was reported missing.

Anna

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 9:33 p.m.

Huh? "Initials ADH"? How do you know the driver was from out of state?

George K

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 8:34 p.m.

I'm no CSI, but looking at the aerial map suggests that the person was driving on Pointe Ln and continued straight when the road turns left. Maybe fell asleep/had a medical event. I am especially convinced because of the damage described: "The front passenger wheel had been ripped away, leaving only a hubcap dangling at an unnatural angle." That damage was probably sustained by hitting the curb at high speed before going hard into the woods. But I'm just a guy with a computer, not a crime scene investigator.

Ann English

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 12:13 a.m.

Hitting a curb at 35 mph can damage a wheel's rim, requiring its replacement. I know, it happened to me seven years ago. By "high speed," you're talking about well over 35 mph. I can believe that a wheel can be ripped away if impact with a stationary object is great enough.

Ann English

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:55 p.m.

"There was a large dent running horizontally all along the drivers side of the car." That sort of damage can appear on a sedan going 35-40 mph if another vehicle hits it, coming out of a driveway. I don't know if it could happen to a SUV's side unless another SUV hits it, or a larger vehicle. I know that SUVs have a higher center of gravity than other cars so they're more likely to tip over if hit. An area with a ditch over 4 1/2 feet deep IS a bad place for a SUV to tip over and roll. Decades ago, I was in a sedan that got hit on the passenger's side by another motorist's car as she backed out of her driveway. We got a large dent running horizontally all along that side of the vehicle, but nobody was sitting on that side of the car. We spun 180 degrees, but never left the road; we stopped in front of her driveway. Nobody was hurt. Years later, I saw such a two-car collision just west of Barton Drive and Pontiac Trail. One motorist had such a long dent running horizontally all along one side of his car, and I immediately knew what had happened, but he and the driver who hit his car were exchanging information and I was able to drive past them to the intersection. So this kind of collision doesn't necessarily shove a vehicle 15 feet or more off the road. Impact is determined, not just by how fast the hitting vehicle is moving, but its weight, too. A slow-moving heavy vehicle can have the same impact as a lighter, faster-moving vehicle.

TinyArtist

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 3:10 a.m.

Let me know when the condensed version is available.

2WheelsGood

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:46 p.m.

What seems really fishy is that the can't figure out who it is? No wallet on the person? No plate or VIN number on the car?

Youwhine

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 3:14 a.m.

So if the body is in identifiable, what good does a plate or VIN do you? They don't tell you who is driving, they tell you who OWNS the car. And sometimes the owner is not readily available to tell you who the driver was.

2WheelsGood

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:59 p.m.

And it reads: "Curtis said nothing is known about the person who died. The body was unidentifiable and Curtis could not immediately tell the sex of the deceased." It says nothing about pending notification of family. Did you two actually read the article?

2WheelsGood

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:56 p.m.

It reads that they can't determine the sex of the body, so...

craigjjs

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:56 p.m.

I don't think it is fishy. I think the police have not completed their investigation and have not yet released that information. I would expect them to try to contact the next of kin before announcing it to the public.

lorayn

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:51 p.m.

if they do know they won't publish who it is until they have notified the next of kin.

a2girl

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:41 p.m.

Maybe it is totally unrelated, but does the missing fire hydrant not seem strange? Seriously, how does a fire hydrant disappear without making a huge mess? Maybe I don't know how they work. Did the car tear the hydrant off it's foundation? If so, wouldn't that have caused someone to notice that something terrible had happened?

a2girl

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 5:40 p.m.

Youwhine - Thanks for the explaination!

Youwhine

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 3:10 a.m.

You are probably thinking of the movies where a missing hydrant causes water to spew everywhere. In reality, the valve controlling water flow is buried 6 to 10 feet under ground. The hydrant itself ( the part your dog pees on) is meant to shear off in a crash so as not to cause injury. They aren't always noticed since there are hundreds and hundreds of them and they are not checked on very often, so unless some good citizen calls in a missing hydrant, it could take months before the water department makes it around to that area to test ths hydrant.

Craig Lounsbury

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 9:56 p.m.

good questions

G-Man

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:21 p.m.

Smells Fishy..... nobody at the business could smell anything while the decomposing was taking place?

OnTheRight

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 12:52 a.m.

Really? "Smells fishy"....what an inappropriate forum in which to try to be clever. Surely the friends/family of the driver (or anyone else who has lost a loved one in a car wreck) will appreciate your special brand of humor.

Bear

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 9:38 p.m.

No, Elaine, the story read "initial information from police indicated the body was found inside the car." the article repeatedly states that the body was found outside the car in the ditch. And as a possibility, G-man, if this happened in the winter, the body could've dessicated enough by spring to keep the smell down fairly well.

anti-thug

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 8:54 p.m.

this part of town can small pretty bad with sewage warms up.

Richard Carter

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:37 p.m.

Actually, the body was outside the car -- " ... they found a mangled Hyundai Santa Fe SUV on its side and a body lying on the ground next to it."

Richard Carter

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:31 p.m.

On rare occasion, when I'm out walking outside, I've smelled something rotten in different places, but if I can't immediately see the body (usually a deer), I just assume it's down in the woods and think nothing of it. It would likely never occur to me to check every rotting smell to see if it was human.

Elaine F. Owsley

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:27 p.m.

Part of the story said the body was inside the car.

actionjackson

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:11 p.m.

The car's registration and license plates must have immediately identified the owner of the vehicle. Feel very sorry for the family of the deceased.

Youwhine

Fri, Oct 26, 2012 : 3:06 a.m.

Registered owner often has NOTHING to do with driver.

Kyle Feldscher

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:51 p.m.

Judging by the state of the car when I saw it, it's quite possible the glove box was pinned shut and any documents inside weren't immediately available. I never got a good look at the license plate, so I can't say if it was even still on the vehicle or not. However, I'm sure the car will be torn apart by police when they investigate and more will be known soon.

Richard Carter

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:29 p.m.

That will get them closer to the driver, though I suspect they'd wait for dental or other records to be sure.

lorayn

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:16 p.m.

this is tragic, and ironic that this occurred to a populated area but unnoticed. I do hope the identify the person soon.

simone66

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:02 p.m.

This is very sad. It appears that the driver has been there for months! The driver may have had a blow out, or something happened to the car to force it off the road where it slid hidden in a ditch for quite some time. That poor driver died alone, and his/her loved ones have been looking for them all this time. Just tragic.

Pamela

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:43 p.m.

the story said the body had been there for some time- couldn't even id whether male/female. seems weird that no one was reported missing...

islamdiamond20

Sun, Oct 28, 2012 : 4:51 p.m.

His family reported him missing since early september. Why did they fail to mention that in the papers

a2citizen

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:53 p.m.

Maybe they were

anti-thug

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:47 p.m.

its possible they where away from family and friends.

Lisa

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:33 p.m.

So horrible that someone died unnoticed and alone so close to a busy area. My prayers are with the family. I hope that if the investigation uncovers a flaw in the vehicle, it can be fixed so that this happens to no one else.

islamdiamond20

Sun, Oct 28, 2012 : 4:48 p.m.

It is very sad that it happened that way. He was so close to his home.

Walaa Mahmoud

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:32 p.m.

This is so sad! May they be rested in peace....This must of happened this passed Monday when it was raining really bad.

PillowRock

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:01 p.m.

Since the police at the scene could not identify the gender of the deceased, decomposition obviously was much too advanced for the accident to have been that recent.

Linda Peck

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:16 p.m.

Does it seem possible that a very bad accident like this had no road marks or marks on the grass leading up to the ditch?

G-Man

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 7:18 p.m.

Have you ever seen a good accident?

theodynus

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:42 p.m.

If it happened in the winter the ground would have been frozen solid.

EyeHeartA2

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:38 p.m.

Maybe there were.....like six months ago. Now all grown over.

Anna

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:23 p.m.

I'm not an expert, but I think it's possible that if the driver suffered a medical emergency, or was impaired or distracted in some other way, then perhaps they were unable to hit the brakes.

RuralMom

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:08 p.m.

Besides wondering who's been reported missing in Michigan, this particular make & model has been under a Federal investigation into safety. http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121012/AUTO0104/210120405

Bertha Venation

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 8:57 p.m.

GEEZ! Now I'm afraid to drive MY Santa Fe.

FrankOZ

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:06 p.m.

What a way to go. How awful to be injured and alone.

doglover

Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 6:48 p.m.

Yes, it makes me hope the person died instantly, and didn't suffer.

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