Missing MI Doctor Found Dead In Frozen Pond: Police

JACKSON, MI — A missing doctor from Jackson was found dead Tuesday in a frozen pond near his home, according to Blackman-Leoni Public Safety officials.

Dr. Bolek Payan, a psychiatrist at Henry Ford Allegiance Health in Jackson, was last seen leaving the hospital on Thursday, officials said.

After a search on land near his home turned up nothing, officials cut holes in the ice of a nearby frozen pond, and divers found his body in the water, officials said.

Officials do not know how Payan ended up in the pond, but do believe he was dead before he was reported missing, due to how cold the water would have been at the time.

The Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy and toxicology testing of Payan’s body to investigate the exact cause of death.

Blackman-Leoni Public Safety officials said in a Facebook post over the weekend that Payan’s car was found at his home in Leoni Township after he went missing. They also said he hadn’t been in contact with his employer, family members or friends.

Anyone with information was asked to call Detective Mike Villarreal or Detective Sergeant Bob Shrock at (517) 788-4223.

Payan was a 2017 doctor of osteopathic medicine graduate from Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in Downers Grove, Illinois.