Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Autopsy on Elderly Chesterfield Woman Shows Natural Causes, Police Continue to Investigate

Chesterfield Township detectives say they are investigating circumstances surrounding the death and will forward reports to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office.

An autopsy conducted this afternoon determined an elderly Chesterfield Township woman died of natural causes but police are moving forward in their investigation.

"The medical examiner has ruled it a death by natural causes, however, we’re investigating the circumstances surrounding the death," Det. Brian Dowell told Patch.

Macomb County Medical Examiner Dr. Daniel Spitz conducted the exam around noon on the unidentified woman who was in her 80s, police said.

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In light of Spitz's ruling, "we’re going to complete the report and refer anything we’ve found to the Prosecutor’s Office,” Dowell said.

He acknowledged submitting a report to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office is "normally not protocol" for a natural-cause death. Although, he noted there are undisclosed circumstances surrounding the death that they're looking into. The county department regularly reviews reports from police to determine whether there's sufficient evidence to authorize criminal charges.

Find out what's happening in New Baltimore-Chesterfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At approximately 7:30 a.m. Friday, the woman's son reported her death at their home on Jans Road in the 21 Mile and Jefferson area. The son, who is in his 60s, had been her caregiver, Dowell said.

“We received a phone call that his mother had passed away and, when we got there, he was there,” he said.

Police said this morning the son has cooperated fully with investigators and was not considered a suspect at the time.

They previously said they were investigating the possibility of foul play in the woman's death but didn't know specifically what happened.

Dowell declined to say how long the woman's body had been at the home before the death was reported or what circumstances surrounded the discovery.

The woman had been suffering from health problems. Her husband died more than a year ago, police said.

Check back with Patch for more updates on this story.


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