Divers have recovered the skull, an arm bone and identification of the person whose remains were found in a submerged car in the Detroit River on Thursday afternoon.
Police Chief Daniel Grant said divers from the Downriver Underwater Search and Recovery Team returned Friday morning to the murky waters behind the Wyandotte Boat Club. A 1999 Mercury Sable had been pulled out of this location Thursday after being discovered by a recreational diver a week earlier.
http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html
Grant said the skull is important because it might help investigators determine a cause of death and provide positive identification through dental records.
The remains are believed to be those of a Lincoln Park man missing for almost 10 years. Although not official, all signs point to 30-year-old Thomas Daniel Lange, who was last seen on the night of Dec. 30, 2003, in Allen Park.
Grant said a Detroit man doing recreational scuba diving in an area adjacent to BASF Waterfront Park reported the discovery of the car, resting upside-down in 25 feet of water, Aug. 9. He removed the license plate and brought it to the Wyandotte Police Department. Police could not find any record of the plate in their computer network, most likely because of the long period of time that had elapsed since it last was registered with the state.
“It could have been a dumped car or insurance fraud,” Grant said. “I called the dive team and they said they would look for it during their regular training on Thursday.”
They arrived on the river at about 1 p.m. and, after several minutes of searching the areas, they located the submerged car and were able to attach a cable to its underside. Police officers and firefighters dragged the vehicle from the river bottom onto the shoreline with a tow truck.
“Officers were able to remove the vehicle windows and it was determined that a badly decomposed body was located inside the vehicle,” Grant said. “Further examination of the body revealed that it was missing both hands and the entire head. Both feet also were detached, with one being located next to the shoreline in the water and one inside the vehicle on the rear floorboard.”
Police learned the vehicle and its owner, Lange, were reported missing Dec. 30, 2003, in a report filed with the Lincoln Park Police Department.
“At the time of recovery, the body size does fit the known description of Mr. Lange and the clothing also appears to be similar to what he was last observed wearing,” Grant said.
The Downriver Search and Recovery Team re-entered the river Friday morning to conduct a more thorough search of the area and found identification belonging to Lange, some additional bone sections and a head/skull at 11:30 a.m.
Grant said an autopsy was conducted Friday on the remains found in the vehicle and the additional body parts just discovered were forwarded to the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s office. He said the investigating agencies will not be certain of the identity of the vehicle’s occupant until investigators are able to complete a review of dental records or analysis of DNA.
Grant said his department is working with the Lincoln Park Police Department in the investigation.
When asked how it is possible for a vehicle to have been submerged in a well-used portion of the river for almost a decade without being detected, Grant said the dark and cloudy waters of the river help to conceal even a large object such as a car.
Grant said the dive team has conducted training exercises in that area in the past, but unless a diver gets within two feet of it, the car could not be seen. He added that sediment and zebra mussels covering the car helped keep it concealed until the recreational diver came across it.
It’s not known exactly where the car entered the water, since the river current may have pushed it for a short distance. Unlike Bishop Park, which has barriers to keep people from falling in the river, the area behind the Boat Club has open ramps where boats are launched, which is where the car probably went in.
A flier posted shortly after Lange’s disappearance states that he had just gotten off work at Tullio’s La Riviera restaurant in Allen Park and walked across Allen Road to the Wheat & Rye Steak House. He was never seen again.
Friends and family immediately suspected foul play, saying he would never leave his son. Lange reportedly was the father of a baby at the time he disappeared.
Police said they found a stroller in the trunk of the car, as well as a baby seat in the passenger compartment.
