ne Swanson.
Midland County Sheriff Jerry Nielson said that Swanson, 45, died from an apparent gunshot wound.
The discovery of her body and that of another male were made while
authorities were looking for Swanson, a Saginaw Township woman who went
missing Nov. 16 after going on a date with a man she met online.
Nielson said Wednesday that deputies arrived at a home in the Sanford
area on Tuesday afternoon where they traced a phone number that Swanson
had used to call her mother.
When they arrived at the home in
the 5100 block of North Fox Road, deputies heard a loud boom. Moments
later, someone came out of the home and told deputies his 28-year-old
son had just shot himself. Police are not releasing either man's
identity. The man was pronounced dead at the scene and police say his
death appears to be a suicide. Deputies said they found human DNA in the
home that did not belong to the dead man.
Just before the news
conference started on Wednesday afternoon, authorities were alerted to
the discovery of Swanson's body across the street from the home where
the alleged suicide took place. Deputies were combing the property
around the home and stumbled upon what is described as a female body
about 30 feet from the road. No other information has been released as
of yet.
Swanson's family told TV5 she was going out on a date
with a new man she met through an online dating website. That website
was MeetMe.com. When family members hadn't heard from her in several
days, they reached out to the man she went on the date with, but they
said he was rude and hung up the phone once they indicated that they
were going to contact police.
Nielson asked that if anyone has
information on the details of this case to contact the Midland County
Sheriff's Department at 989-839-4620 or the Saginaw Township Police
Department at 989-793-2310.
Stay with WNEM.com and TV5 as we
learn more about this story, including the identity of the man police
say killed himself and how he may or may not be connected to Swanson.
LEIGH SWANSON WAS LOCATED DECEASED