Body, Car Recovered from Detroit River Possibly Linked to 2003 Missing Person Report

The license plate number and color, make and model of a car containing the body of a man recovered from the Detroit River Thursday match details in a nearly 10-year-old missing person report.


Wyandotte police confirmed that a Michigan license plate number, last registered in 2004, retrieved from the recovered black Mercury Sable matches the license plate and vehicle driven by Thomas Lange, who was reported missing on Dec. 30, 2003.

Lange's family reported him missing to the Lincoln Park Police Department after he didn't come home following a brief stop at a grocery store to purchase diapers for his son, according to the National Missing Persons Data System.

Lange was last seen wearing jeans, dark shoes, dark t-shirt, and a red nylon jacket.

Three eye-witnesses, including Jacob Parshall of Wyandotte, said the body appeared to be wrapped in red or orange plastic. Wyandotte Police Chief Daniel Grant said the man was wearing a jacket and boxer shorts when authorities recovered the body, and was not covered in plastic wrap.

The body was taken to the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy to be performed Friday.

A recreational diver discovered the car while diving behind the Wyandotte Boat Club. The diver retrieved the license plate attached to the car and turned it in to the Wyandotte Police Department. 

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