Police search for mother of boy found decomposing in Detroit apartment

DETROIT (WJBK) - Detroit Police are trying to find the mother of a young boy who was found decomposing in a Detroit apartment Wednesday.

The grisly discovery was made just before 3 p.m. Wednesday by a maintenance man who noticed an odor coming from an apartment at the Madison Estates apartment building. When he unlocked the door and walked inside, he found the boy's partially decomposed body laying on a bed.

Detroit police say the boy is either 2 or 3 years old but they are unsure due to how badly decomposed the body is. Investigators estimate the boy had been dead for several days before he was found.

Erander Stovall was home when the deceased boy's mother was picked up by Detroit EMS on a medical run May 16th. She said it appeared the mother had difficulty breathing that day.

"She came out and she was walking forward and like 'can you call the ambulance?,'" Stovall said.

Detroit Police Capt. Darin Szilagy said they have to work with EMS to get some things confirmed about that day.

"The 16th of May, we believe she was transported for some reason, she was found in the grass. We're not sure if she was found unresponsive, she was found out front and Detroit EMS took her to the hospital," Szilagy said.

The boy's mom was taken to a Detroit hospital and then a day later was transported to an Ann Arbor hospital. She was discharged on Tuesday, the day before her was son was found dead.

Who was caring for him? Who was with him in the days before he died? Investigators are researching the mother's medical records and trying to find out where she is. Is it possible the 3 yr old boy was being cared for but then was simply left home alone? Right now there are more questions than answers.

"We don't know if there's a suspect, we may have to do a well-being check on her. We're not sure what her involvement is. We know she was transferred for a medical incident. We don't know if she was a victim of something or does she need help right now? We'll be reaching out with her name very shortly," Szilagy said.

Neighbors say the mother did not socialize or visit with others and was always with her son.

"He could have been in there with someone and they were mistreating them. It could go anyway. It's just very alarming because we have seen her all the time. When we would see the baby in the stroller, he would be happy and smiling all the time," neighbor April Fowler said.

"I've never seen him with anybody but that baby. No man, no none of that," Stovall said.

Neighbors insist that they never saw the boy being harmed or abused.

Police say they will release the boy's mother's name shortly.