Highland Park death raises questions after unidentified man found inside abandoned home

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. – An unidentified man was found inside of an abandoned home in Highland Park.

The man was found on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 4:45 p.m. in the 342 block of Geneva Avenue.

Michigan State Police First Lieutenant Mike Shaw said the Highland Park Police Department contacted the MSP Second District Special Investigation Section about the man who was found in the abandoned home that at one point was on fire.

Shaw said the unidentified man was found deceased down in the basement of the home.

“We are in the process of walking through the neighborhood, checking Ring cameras, looking for witnesses,” said Shaw. “We also have a fingerprint scanner on the way with some of our evidence techs to go ahead and try to identify this male.”

MSP said they are not sure what occurred at the time of the man’s death. Shaw said the incident could be homicide or an overdose or something to do with the weather or a natural death.

“Naturally, as we have no witnesses on the scene, we’re treating this as a homicide,” Shaw said. “There are some things in the basement that are making this scene look like a homicide or foul play involved with this.”

Detectives said they completed their canvass and on-scene investigation and await the autopsy report.

The man remains unidentified, and a cause of death has not been determined.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the MSP Tip Line at 855-MICH-TIP or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak-Up.