Crime & Safety

Man Found Burned In Car Was Doctor; Police Seeking Info

The body found burning inside a car in Pontiac has been identified as a doctor from Howell.

PONTIAC, MI — The body found burned in a car in Pontiac this week has been identified as 54-year-old Norman Cotten Jr., a chiropractor from Howell, Michigan, with offices in Commerce Township and Fowlerville. An investigation is still underway, but officials found a box cutter with an open blade melted to his thigh and two cans of gasoline inside the vehicle, which was found ablaze in the parking lot of an abandoned school the morning of April 2.

Authorities used dental records to verify his identity. According to police, his wife told authorities their two gas cans were missing and he had hurried out of the house that morning, leaving his cellphone behind. No signs of trauma were found in the autopsy; his cause of death was ruled to be thermal burns and smoke and soot inhalation. The majority of the charring and burning was centered around the front passenger seat and backseat of the 2008 Cadillac CTS.

Authorities are now asking to speak with anyone who may have seen Cotten or his car on April 2. His license plate is “STORM24,” according to authorities. Anyone with information should call the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office at 248-858-4911.

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Photo courtesy Oakland County Sheriff's Office

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