A Detroit-area man allegedly drove a deceased woman across the country from Arizona to Michigan, refusing to stop and contact authorities even after she died en route, police said Wednesday.
The man, a 62-year-old Clinton Township resident, is reported to have been in a relationship with the 31-year-old woman, the Associated Press reported.
Awaiting toxicology results from an autopsy performed on the woman's dead body, the man has not been charged yet, authorities said.
Police did not release the names of the man or the dead woman, Seattle Pi reported.
After picking her up from a mental health facility, where she resided in Glendale, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, on May 31, the man was driving back to Michigan for their 1,700 mile journey, WJBK Fox 2's Roop Raj reported.
After stopping at a gas station in Flagstaff, Ariz. June 1, police believe the woman ingested a number of oxycodone pills. She died immediately after returning to the van, Warren Police Commissioner Jere Green said.
However, the man did not realize she was dead until he touched her.
The man told police he made two additional stops between New Mexico and Oklahoma, where he attempted to ask the woman if she needed to exit the vehicle. After she failed to respond, he determined she was deceased.
"He then does an Internet search via his phone," said Warren police Sgt. Stephen Mills. "He says he finds on the Internet that he has 48 hours to take her to a medical examiner or to a morgue."
The information was wrong, Mills said.
"As soon as you determine that (someone is) unresponsive, you should pull over and call 911," Mills told the Detroit Free Press. "Because there's always a possibility that you foresee them as dead but they may not be."
For the reminder of the drive, the woman's body remained in the passenger seat. He propped her body up and placed sunglasses on her face and a stuffed animal in her lap, police said.
"The man's 92-year-old mother was also riding in the back of the van in her wheelchair," according to Seattle Pi. "During the 26-hour drive, she was not able to use a restroom. The air-conditioning in the van stopped working soon after they began driving."
When the Arizona mental health facility called the woman's cellphone to check up on her, the man explained that she was dead. They recommended him to immediately contact the police.
"He says, 'I'm not stopping. I'll get a hold of them when I get to Michigan,'" Mills said.
The Macomb County Prosecutor's Office is reviewing the case.
