Family of Chad Killen Seeks Donations

The father of Chad Killen, who disappeared into the woods two years ago and whose body was discovered in Murray Lake on Thursday, is collecting donations to bury his teenage son.

Bill Killen, of Fenton, created a Chad A. Killen Foundation Facebook page to announce that he is starting an account at Bank of America to collect donations and will release details through Facebook on Monday.

Killen thanked supporters and said he was "not ready" for the news.

"It came down on me at once," Killen wrote on the Facebook page.

Who was Chad Killen?

From the statistics in Chad Killen's missing person bulletin, you learn he was born on May 6, 1992, stood 5'9", 150 pounds, and had brown hair, hazel eyes and a pierced left ear.

From the comments stacked up on the Chad Killen is missing Facebook page, you realize he was also a son, "baby cousin" and best friend.

Killen was last seen on May 21, 2009, when he ran away into the woods after being confronted by family at his Green Oak Township home. He had just turned 17 years old.

According to , which handled the case under the leadership of Detective Tpr. Val Dakin, the family tried to get him to return. Instead, they were left wondering for almost two years whether he ever would.

Killen was listed on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database as an “endangered runaway,” and family never gave up "desperately looking for their son."

Terrible closure

On Friday, which would have been Killen's 19th birthday, Hamburg Township Acting Chief Lt. Brian DeNoyer announced that remains found the previous day in Murray Lake in , were identified as that of Killen.

A kayaker called police on Thursday to report finding a human body half-buried in muck and submerged in dark water near the lake shore.

DeNoyer said the body was taken across the lake to solid ground using a Hamburg Fire Department airboat, with assistance from the Howell Fire Department, led by Chief Andrew Pless, and .

Then, the body was taken to the medical examiner's office at Sparrow Hospital near Lansing for an autopsy, where dental records were used to make a positive ID. DeNoyer said that the cause of his death is still under investigation.

The news came just one day before the Killen family's participation in Missing in Michigan, a campaign at Ford Field in Detroit to raise awareness of missing persons throughout the state.

Murray Lake is located off the Bauer Road entrance to Brighton State Recreation Area, north of Maltby and south of Cunningham Lake roads (see ).

To help the family of Chad Killen, please send donations to Bill Killen, 205 Trealout Dr., Apt. B20, Fenton, MI 48430.