A doctor from Michigan who had been missing for five days was found dead near his home in a frozen pond.
On December 22, the last time anyone saw Dr. Bolek Payan was when he left his job at the Henry Ford Jackson Hospital in Jackson, Michigan. After several days of “no contact with his employer, family, or friends,” the Blackman-Leoni Public Safety Department posted on Facebook on Christmas Eve that he was missing and asked for help finding him.
The department of public safety said on Tuesday that divers had found Payan’s body. Detectives looking into Payan’s disappearance were able to look at footage from a home video camera system that showed Payan left his house on foot in the afternoon of December 22. The area around Payan’s house was searched with the help of K-9 dogs and drones. After that, the public safety department decided to cut holes in the ice of a pond on Payan’s property.
Jenny Fordyce’s friends and neighbors informed her that the doctor was an only child who grew up in Chicago before relocating to Michigan.
Fordyce told the news site, “He arrived here last winter, so we didn’t have much time to get to know him, but he was an all-around lovely guy.”
“He delivered a Christmas card a few days prior to his disappearance. It feels so unreal that he is gone,” she continued.
The neighbor told about the time Payan came to her for help after buying a lawnmower in the summer.
Fordyce told MLive, “I don’t think he had much use for a big lawnmower in Chicago, so my husband and I were happy to help him out.”
Payan graduated from the Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2017 and was board certified in psychiatry. Since 2020, he had worked in the behavioral health office at the Henry Ford Jackson Hospital.
“We are very upset to hear that Dr. Bolek Payan has died. In a statement to the outlet, the Henry Ford Health System said, “His family, friends, and coworkers are in our thoughts and prayers, and we are very sorry for their loss.”
Payan’s family reported him missing after the last time they saw him was when he left Henry Ford Jackson Hospital on December 22. Police dogs and a drone were used to search his house and the land around it, but nothing was found.
On Monday, police were able to look at his home’s video surveillance system, which showed that he left on December 22.
Officials said that divers found his body after they cut holes in the ice of the pond. Under the ice, his body was found.
The cause of death hasn’t been found yet, and the incident is still being looked into. Police said that an autopsy is still being done by the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“Detectives believe Dr. Payan would have been dead before he was reported missing,” Blackman-Leoni Public Safety said. This is because of the weather on the day he left his home and the fact that he was in the water.