DETROIT (WXYZ) - Detroit Police are searching for clues after a body was found in a block of ice .
MICHAEL ROSENFIELD REPORTS FROM THE SCENE IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ON THE RIGHT
Detroit News reporter Charlie LeDuff got a tip about the body Tuesday from a group of kids who saw the body while playing hockey in the old Roosevelt warehouse. It was 15 feet down an elevator shaft, the man's legs and feet were sticking out of the ice.
LeDuff says, "they were afraid to call the police because they were trespassing. So I came down, took a look to see if it was true, it was true." LeDuff then called 911, but was not able to get anyone to come down to investigate until Wednesday night.
Firefighters used ladders to reach the body and an assortment of tools and saws to break up the ice. Officers say the man likely was in the shaft for months. The basement had been full of water and when winter came the body froze, surrounded by ice.
It took Detroit firefighters about two hours to free the body, and right now police don't know what they have on their hands. Police say the man's death may have been an accident. They say he may have fallen down the shaft. However, they are not yet ruling out homicide.
The building, at Michigan Avenue and 14th Street, is just a stone's throw from the old Michigan Central Depot. The warehouse was once owned by the Detroit Public School System as a place to store textbooks and supplies. Long abandoned, the building is now full of graffiti, broken windows, trash and holes in the ceiling.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE DETROIT NEWS STORY ABOUT THE DISCOVERY **WARNING LINKED STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC PICTURE**
