DETROIT – The Detroit Police Department confirmed to Local 4 that the body found in the cemetery on the city’s west side was that of missing 15-year-old Lawrence Dowl.
Dowl was found on Thursday (Aug. 14) at Mt. Hazel Cemetery on Lahser Road and Clarita Street.
Detroit police Homicide Division Captain Marcus Thirlkill said police from the 8th Precinct responded to a report of a deceased person inside the cemetery.
Thirlkill said the call came from a citizen visiting a loved one in the cemetery who noticed the individual.
Officers arrived and observed what they believed to be a Black male deceased inside the cemetery.
Thirlkill said the individual was wearing gloves and what appeared to be a ski mask.
Homicide investigators were on the scene conducting an investigation when police told us that it was Dowl who, at the time of the investigation, appeared to be someone with a youthful appearance.
Police are working with the Wayne County Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death.
The investigation is in its early stages and is being treated as a homicide.
Family members said Lawrence Dowl left his home with a friend in the 19900 block of Salem on Tuesday (Aug. 12) and did not return.
A search was conducted on Thursday afternoon with the assistance of family, friends, and police on Detroit’s west side, before he was identified after our newscast went off the air.
This is a breaking news story, and updates will be posted as they become available.
Detroit police Homicide Division Captain Marcus Thirlkill talks youthful-looking body found in cemetary