Missing doctor found in frozen pond five days after he left his home in US super storm – TheLiberal.ie – Our News, Your Views

Missing doctor found in frozen pond five days after he left his home in US super storm




Image source: Metro/WLNS

A doctor who went missing during last week’s winter storm has been found in a frozen pond near his home, police said.

Authorities have confirmed the death of Dr. Bolek Payan, a psychiatrist at Henry Ford Allegiant Health in Jackson, Michigan.

Payan disappeared on Thursday, December 22, when a polar vortex formed over the nearby Great Lakes. Around 21:30 that night, temperatures in Jackson County quickly dropped to 20 degrees Fahrenheit over the course of about two hours.

The days that followed saw even cooler temperatures, dropping as low as -2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Friends and family hadn’t heard from Payan since the Thursday he left the hospital.

Before leaving for work, Payan left his dogs at his friend Nicole Keizer’s house, WILX News reported. he had planned to pick them up that afternoon at 6:30pm, but he never appeared.

He was reported missing shortly thereafter. “For his truck to be here without coming to the house to pick up the dogs that would be out of character,’ Keiser told the station. ‘Something happened and I don’t know what,” reports Metro.

After his disappearance was reported, investigators discovered security camera footage from Payan’s home, which showed the doctor leaving in the middle of the afternoon on December 22.

Police searched the rest of Payan’s home with K-9 units and drones, but found no sign of the doctor. Instead, they decided to focus their efforts on a frozen pond on the property.

Detectives drilled holes in the ice on Monday, December 26, and divers immediately began searching the body of water for any sign of Payan. At around 12:30 on Tuesday afternoon, divers located his body.

“Detectives believe Dr. Payan would have been deceased, prior to when he was reported missing, due to the weather conditions on the day that he left his residence and the fact that he was in the water,” Blackman Township Public Safety said on Tuesday, reports Metro.
Authorities also said they would conduct an autopsy and toxicology panel on the deceased doctor.

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