Man Found Dead in Van was Apparent Suicide, Police Chief Says

The death of a in a vehicle parked outside of a Ferndale business was an "apparent suicide," Ferndale Police Chief Timothy Collins said Monday.

Collins said the man was 86 years old and believed to be from Ferndale.

Ferndale resident Cassie Sweetnich told Ferndale Patch on Sunday that she was driving around 1 p.m. Sunday and saw police and fire vehicles outside on Marshall, where a blue minivan was parked at an “odd angle” in front of the shop.

“More [emergency vehicles] seemed to be coming and going as I drove past,” she said.

When she drove by again on her way home shortly after, Sweetnich reported seeing police pulling a man from the blue minivan.

“There was one police car and a big white van, and they seemed to be pulling a man out of that blue minivan,” she said, adding that the man appeared to be deceased. “It was unsettling.”

Collins said the case still has to go through the medical examiner's office but all indications point to a suicide. He said no foul play is suspected.