Traverse City -- Police are at a standstill until they receive autopsy results of a dead infant found last week in the basement of a city residence.
An initial autopsy was completed last week at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, and authorities expect to receive a preliminary autopsy report by late next week. A full autopsy report will not be available until more toxicology tests are performed.
"Until we have a cause of death, we'll continue to get as much information as we can," Traverse City police Capt. Brian Heffner said. "We have a newborn baby that we found in a residence that was deceased, and we want to know why that happened."
As authorities await the preliminary report, they continue to interview the peers of a 15-year-old girl who was admitted March 8 to Munson Medical Center with hemorrhaging caused during birth. Police drove to the girl's Griffin Street residence shortly after she was admitted to the hospital and found a dead newborn boy in the basement. They won't comment on whether the body was hidden.
Police still have to conduct more interviews, but would not say how many.
The girl's family last week retained Traverse City attorney Melanie Stanton. Authorities have been in contact with Stanton, but have yet to interview the girl, Heffner said Friday.
"We would certainly like to talk to her," he said.
Attorneys can advise their clients not to speak with authorities, so Heffner said he plans to pursue the investigation "forensically."
Preliminary autopsy results should help determine the cause of the infant's death, and if there's evidence to potentially pursue criminal charges. Spectrum officials refused to comment on the autopsy results until police conclude their investigation.
Stanton initially told authorities that she wanted a second autopsy to be performed on the newborn, but did not return several calls for comment on whether she plans to follow through with her request.
"It's in the family's hands now," Heffner said.
Detectives last week also took DNA samples to a medical laboratory in Lansing for testing. Heffner said he expects those results in about a month.
