Post by LadyBlue on Aug 16, 2013 9:47:38 GMT -5
A body found in a car pulled from the Detroit River is believed to be that of a man who went missing almost a decade ago.
Wyandotte Police pulled the black Mercury Sable from the Detroit River Thursday afternoon, and no one expected that they would find a body inside.
“Why couldn’t they have found him sooner?” asked Chris Luke.
Chris Luke tells 7 Action News that without a doubt, the person in the car is his buddy, 30-year-old Thomas Lange who went missing at the end of 2003.
Police Chief Daniel Grant tells 7 Action News that they strongly believe the body is that of Lange. The medical examiner's office will have to use DNA to identify the body because it has no head or hands. "It is a strong likelihood that it is Lange, but until further analysis cannot make a 100 percent determination," said Police Chief Grant.
The black Mercury Sable pulled from behind the Wyandotte Boat Club matches the last car Lange was seen driving.
“Ten years is a long time to let the family suffer that long,” said Luke.
Police tell 7 Action News that the last time someone registered the license plate on the car was in 2004. Police also tell us they are looking at a report of a person who went missing from Lincoln Park in 2003.
People last saw Lange at the Wheat & Rye Bar & Grill in Allen Park after Lange got off his shift at a nearby restaurant.
“I just remember that he was missing and we didn’t have any details on what happened,” said Luke.
One of the only details his family does know, is that Lange made one last phone call at 12:30 a.m. on New Year’s Eve in 2003. Friends said they suspected foul play because Lange would never have left his son.
“He wouldn’t just leave his kids. He just had a baby. There’s no way he would just leave his child, up and leave,” said Luke.
A man from Detroit who went scuba diving in the river found the vehicle last Friday. The man did not know there was a body inside, but he did take the license plate off and to police.
Police said Thursday was the first day they were able to pull the car out of the Detroit River.
Luke said that now, almost a decade later, Lange’s family and friends finally have some closure.
“He was an awesome guy,” said Luke. “He would do anything for any of us.”
Police said it is too early to determine cause of death because the body is so badly decomposed. Police believe the head might have fallen off while they pulled the car from the river and dive teams will be back out tomorrow morning to look for the body part.
Friends are holding a vigil for Thomas Lange at McCaffery’s Bar in Lincoln Park Friday at 9:30 p.m. The bar is somewhere that Lange had worked in the past.
Read more: www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/body-found-in-submerged-car-in-wyandotte#ixzz2c8xKLs8I
Wyandotte Police pulled the black Mercury Sable from the Detroit River Thursday afternoon, and no one expected that they would find a body inside.
“Why couldn’t they have found him sooner?” asked Chris Luke.
Chris Luke tells 7 Action News that without a doubt, the person in the car is his buddy, 30-year-old Thomas Lange who went missing at the end of 2003.
Police Chief Daniel Grant tells 7 Action News that they strongly believe the body is that of Lange. The medical examiner's office will have to use DNA to identify the body because it has no head or hands. "It is a strong likelihood that it is Lange, but until further analysis cannot make a 100 percent determination," said Police Chief Grant.
The black Mercury Sable pulled from behind the Wyandotte Boat Club matches the last car Lange was seen driving.
“Ten years is a long time to let the family suffer that long,” said Luke.
Police tell 7 Action News that the last time someone registered the license plate on the car was in 2004. Police also tell us they are looking at a report of a person who went missing from Lincoln Park in 2003.
People last saw Lange at the Wheat & Rye Bar & Grill in Allen Park after Lange got off his shift at a nearby restaurant.
“I just remember that he was missing and we didn’t have any details on what happened,” said Luke.
One of the only details his family does know, is that Lange made one last phone call at 12:30 a.m. on New Year’s Eve in 2003. Friends said they suspected foul play because Lange would never have left his son.
“He wouldn’t just leave his kids. He just had a baby. There’s no way he would just leave his child, up and leave,” said Luke.
A man from Detroit who went scuba diving in the river found the vehicle last Friday. The man did not know there was a body inside, but he did take the license plate off and to police.
Police said Thursday was the first day they were able to pull the car out of the Detroit River.
Luke said that now, almost a decade later, Lange’s family and friends finally have some closure.
“He was an awesome guy,” said Luke. “He would do anything for any of us.”
Police said it is too early to determine cause of death because the body is so badly decomposed. Police believe the head might have fallen off while they pulled the car from the river and dive teams will be back out tomorrow morning to look for the body part.
Friends are holding a vigil for Thomas Lange at McCaffery’s Bar in Lincoln Park Friday at 9:30 p.m. The bar is somewhere that Lange had worked in the past.
Read more: www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/body-found-in-submerged-car-in-wyandotte#ixzz2c8xKLs8I