GAINES TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The family of a man found dead last week in a small retention pond wants to know if anything sinister lead up to his death.
60-year-old Terence Gilbert Hartfield was found dead in the pond Friday around 11:00am near Eastport Dr and Ridgebrook Dr. Somebody walking by the area had called police after finding his body.
According to the oldest brother of Hartfield, he was told by the coroner that water was found in the man's lungs, indicating he drowned. But the family of the man that went by 'Gil' says they don't think this was just a tragic accident.
“I can’t see him walking over from the street, ten feet over to a pond six feet down, in a retention pond that he knows right there he cannot get out of," the brother told FOX 17 Tuesday, "So I’m thinking there was a struggle there.”
According to family and police, Gil has been living for many years without a home. His brother said Tuesday, "Strange, he liked being homeless. He would rather be homeless. He didn’t like the responsibility of having a house and bills and all that."
Hartfield's brother says he had been assaulted on the streets before. "I can’t even see him running from anyone because he’s not that type of person, he’s not a runner. I can see him getting caught and trying to struggle with someone," he lamented.
Anyone with information about what happened to Terence Gilbert Hartfield is asked to call the Kent County Sheriff's Office at (616) 632-6100 or Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345.
