A woman's body was found Monday morning in Dr. Jack Kevorkian's van outside the Oakland County medical examiner's office, officials said. Kevorkian has left bodies at the site before.
The woman's body was found around 6 a.m., shortly after an unidentified person called the office and said to "check out the vehicle in the parking lot," Sheriff's Capt. Barnett Jones said. The employee who took the call then notified the sheriff's office.The van is registered to Kevorkian, he said.
Kevorkian's attorneys had no immediate comment but scheduled a news conference for later Monday. There was no answer at Kevorkian's home.
The van, with the body still inside, was towed into the sheriff's department garage. A search warrant was being sought.
Kevorkian has been present during the deaths of 26 people since 1990 while pushing his cause of doctor-assisted suicide. In two cases last year, the bodies were left outside the medical examiner's office.
On May 12, Kevorkian, a retired pathologist, attended the death of Nicholas John Loving, 27, of Phoenix, who had Lou Gehrig's disease. Loving's body was found in a Volkswagen van in the driveway to the medical examiner's office.
Sheriff's officials impounded the van and kept it all summer, returning it to Kevorkian in September under court order.
On Nov. 8, Patricia Cashman, 58, of San Marcos, Calif., died with Kevorkian present. Kevorkian's attorney said she had cancer. Her body was left in a car outside the medical examiner's office.