Crime & Safety

Man Found Dead Sunday Inside Van in Ferndale, Fire Chief Confirms

A resident reported seeing a man being removed from a minivan on Sunday afternoon outside of O'Brien's on Marshall. The matter is under investigation by police.

A man was found dead inside of a vehicle parked outside of a Ferndale business Sunday afternoon, Ferndale Fire Chief Kevin Sullivan confirmed Sunday.

No information was available as of Sunday afternoon about the cause of death and the matter is currently under investigation by .

Ferndale resident Cassie Sweetnich told Patch 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.

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“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.

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“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.”

Ferndale Police Lt. Casey O'Loughlin confirmed officers had a run at that location but said he could not provide any further information.

Sullivan said the matter is under investigation by police and said the fire department's only role was confirming the individual was dead.

“I can confirm we confirmed there was a death,” he said.

Sullivan said he was not personally at the scene and had no further information at this time.

“There's a lot of lacking information in the whole thing,” he said.

Ferndale Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.


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