Body found in Pontiac woods ID'd as man missing since November

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An amateur film crew shooting a scene in a wooded area in Pontiac noticed a horrible smell. Then they saw a decomposing body.

Investigators believe it's the body of a father from Pontiac who has been missing for months, since last November.

"We had no idea where he was or how he was doing until now," said Rita Johnson, the victim's aunt.

Family and friends have been searching, papering neighborhoods since 41-year-old Lanard Curtaindoll went missing the day after Thanksgiving.

FOX 2 "What's these last few months been like for you guys?"

"Like hell, hell," said Angel Parker, the victim's sister.

After five months of not knowing his family is starting to get some answers, though not the ones they hoped for.

"I'm just mad it happened like this, dumped like trash for real," Parker said.

We're told the body was badly decomposed. Police were able to use tattoos to ID Curtaindoll, but they can't be certain it's him until the body is taken to the medical examiner. 

"We were here at the right place the right time," said Jeremiah Daniel, who found the body.

Daniel and his film crew were shooting a movie there Wednesday afternoon and he still had the makeup on from the shoot. 

They discovered the body in the wooded area not too far from Orchard Lake and Telegraph. 

"All I could see was the shirt, and the skull and the smell was really bad," Daniel said. "That's when everybody started to freak out and we ran off and called the police."

Police aren't saying whether this is a suspicious death; they will know more after an autopsy is done. 

Curtaindoll's family says it wasn't like him to just disappear. 

"He's very giving, he's a good father - and we love him," Johnson said.