The body of a teenager was recovered Monday from a car left at a tow lot following a crash that occurred June 1.
The remains of a 17-year-old boy were found on the rear portion of the SUV that was severely damaged in a crash four days prior, according to CBS58. The Milwaukee Police Department said the SUV crashed into a tree on Thursday night and was determined to be stolen. The 16-year-old driver of the vehicle was arrested, and the SUV was subsequently towed to a local lot.
It’s unclear whether the boy died from the crash, or whether his life could have been saved had local law enforcement discovered him inside the vehicle on the night of the crash, CBS58 reported. This is the third such incident, where a car was towed with a body still inside, to occur in the last several years.
“This is supposed to be a multi-level approach so that this kind of thing doesn’t happen,” attorney Willam Sulton said of the situation. Sulton previously represented a family whose 4-year-old child was towed away in a vehicle in 2018 and left in a tow lot for eight hours overnight. “When vehicles get to the tow lot, we have another set of rules and responsibilities that apply to those officers at the tow lot. They can’t process or release the vehicle until they can confirm a search was conducted.” (RELATED: Video Shows Officers Heroically Save Baby From Overheated Car In Tampa)
The most recent victim’s mother identified the teenager as James Stokes, according to Fox6. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office is investigating his official cause of death.