Burned body found during truck crash investigation north of Ann Arbor - CBS Detroit
/ CBS Detroit
Burned body found near truck crash in Washtenaw County
An investigation into a crashed semi truck cab in Washtenaw County, Michigan, led sheriff's deputies to find a burned body within 30 yards of the scene.
The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office says there were also no signs of the driver.
CBS News Detroit took a look at the scene in Barton Hills, north of Ann Arbor, on Whitmore Lake Road to learn more about the puzzle investigators are trying to piece together so far.
With no idea who the driver is and unable to identify the body due to the burns, the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office says they now have a true mystery on their hands.
"It's very suspicious. The truck being unoccupied, the body being burned, and just not having any answers, so it's pretty suspicious," said Sheriff's Office Commander Eugene Rush.
Rush says deputies arrived at the crash in Barton Hills around 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, but they couldn't find the driver. That's when witnesses directed them to a small fire roughly 30 yards away, where they saw something, but it wasn't what they expected.
"They found a body that was deceased and badly burned. We don't know anything about race or ethnicity or age or anything, but we could tell it was a male body. We're just trying to piece it together right now," Rush said.
He says they can't rule out the possibility of the driver being the person found in the fire, but it's too early to tell without knowing who the driver was, how long it's been since the crash, or who the truck belonged to.
"I think number one is just being able to identify the driver and then trying to figure out who the truck comes back to and then trying to piece those leads together," Rush said.
Residents who live around here tell us they didn't recognize the vehicle, but if you know something about this crash, the vehicle, the driver, or the body, Cmdr. Rush asks you to contact the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office at 734-994-2911.
Jack Springgate joins the CBS News Detroit team after working for nearly seven years as a news reporter and anchor in South Bend, Ind., and Minot, North Dakota.