DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Detroit Police Department is investigating after the body of a teenage girl was found inside a stolen car parked in an alley on the city’s west side.
Investigators are still working to officially identify the victim, who police believe was around the age of 16. She is described as a Black female who is about 5-foot-5 and 150 pounds.
“There's a whole lot of questions we don’t have answers to,” said Commander Michael McGinnis with the Detroit Police Department.
Detroit Police were called to the scene after a neighbor found the car 10:00 a.m. Wednesday in an alley on Burnette Street near Livernois and Joy Road.
Police say the car was a black Chevy Malibu that was recently involved in a carjacking. They believe the shooting took place in the alley, and police say neighbors heard gunshots around 10:00pm the night before.
“We are doing everything we can one to identify her and to catch the perpetrators responsible for this heinous act,” McGinnis said.
It’s potentially a tragic ending to the search for a missing teenager. Detroit Police began combing missing persons reports and Berkley Police say they believe the victim may be a 15 year old girl first reported missing in Berkley in April. They say the girl could also be connected to a carjacking of a black Malibu that happened Monday in Detroit. DPD released a photo of a young woman they believe was involved in the car jacking, seeking information about her. The photo strongly resembles the missing teen.
“The vehicle being carjacked leads me to believe there was some other sort of criminality going on," McGinnis said. "But, the story is we’ve got a young lady that was shot and killed and there’s likely no justified reason for that.”
Friends to the family of the missing teen who spoke off camera with 7 Action News gave us photos of the girl, saying she was originally from Cleveland and came here to stay with an aunt before running away twice. Her search may possibly have reached a tragic end, but the search for the suspects is still underway.
“We need some help bringing some closure to this family and this poor victim,” McGinnis said.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
