Missing Michigan woman found dead in Ohio. What we know
Jalen Williams- A 57-year-old Michigan woman, Kristin Bates, was found dead in an Ohio park.
- The cause of death is currently unknown pending an autopsy.
A 57-year old Michigan woman from the Boyne City area was found dead May 27 in a Defiance, Ohio, park, authorities say.
Kristin Bates, of Boyne City, who had been reported missing, was found dead around 8 p.m. on May 27, Detective Sgt. David J. Richards said in a news release from the Defiance Police Department.
Authorities say Bates' cause of death remains undetermined, and the investigation is continuing. The Lucas County (Ohio) Coroner's Office will conduct an autopsy.
Bates' body was found in Riverside Park in Defiance, the release said, by a fisherman. The Defiance County Sheriff’s Office, the Defiance Fire Department, and the Defiance County Coroners Office, assisted in recovering Bates' body.
Boyne City is about 300 miles north of the northeast Ohio city of Defiance, about a five-hour drive. Defiance is about halfway between Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Toledo, Ohio.
A day before finding the woman's body, on May 26, Defiance police officers were dispatched after a report of a dog left unattended in a vehicle at 925 S. Clinton. St., about eight blocks from the park on the Auglaize River near the confluence with the Maumee River.
When officers arrived, the release said, they determined the vehicle belonged to Bates. The police department then issued an alert for Bates and opened an investigation to assist with locating her.