Potential Homeowner in Detroit Finds Mummified Body in Garage

A potential homeowner in Detroit found an unexpected surprise when he walked into the garage of the house he was considering purchasing.

What he discovered was a grisly scene: a mummified, decomposed body in the back seat of a car.

The discovery occurred around 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon. As the potential home buyer was inspecting the garage of a home in the 19900 block of Spencer, he found the mummified body, the Detroit News reported.

Authorities said the body was found in the back of a 1990 or 1991 Plymouth Acclaim.

Lloyd Jackson, a spokesman for Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office, said officials estimate that the body had been there for “years” and said “the body is brown”- meaning it is well past the decomposition stage.

Jackson said medical examiners “inspected” the body but are waiting for an anthropologist from the University of Michigan that partners with the county to conduct special tests, such as those that will determine the body’s gender.

Jackson told the Detroit Free Press that the body was found lying down in the back seat dressed in a shirt and pants.

Detroit Police spokesman Dan Donakowski said officers were dispatched to the scene after the man discovered the body.

“We talked to the current tenants of that location and they were told that the actual homeowners had said basically don’t go in the garage, don’t put anything in the garage,” said Donakowski, who also stated that the investigation is ongoing.

This is not the first time a mummified body has been discovered in Michigan. Investigators also found a mummified body in Pontiac, Michigan, five years after its death in 2014.