|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
October 28, 2003BENZIE: Prosecutor wants kids taken from dad's homeCause of their mother's death still unknownByRecord-Eagle staff writer BEULAH - Authorities investigating the weekend death of an Oakland County woman near Herring Lake hope to remove her children from their father's custody. Benzie County Prosecutor Anthony Cicchelli said Monday he planned to file a petition with the state Family Independence Agency to remove Florence Unger's two pre-teen children from her husband, Mark's, custody.
Houghton said forensic pathologists at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids are attempting to determine whether Unger drowned or died from a head wound suffered in a fall. Mark Unger initially talked to investigators but later asked to speak with his lawyer, Benzie County Sheriff Bob Blank said. Unger told investigators he was with his wife Friday at the Watervale Inn, a Victorian-style resort on Herring Lake in Blaine Township. Blank said Unger told investigators he lost track of his wife during the evening and assumed she was visiting other guests or had rented another room. Unger said he fell asleep watching a movie and woke up the next morning with his wife still gone, Blank said. When Unger asked resort workers about his wife's whereabouts he told them she might be depressed or suicidal, Blank said. Florence Unger was last seen about 9:30 p.m. Friday, investigators said. The resort's owner found her body about 8:05 a.m. Saturday. Florence Unger filed for divorce in August, according to Oakland County Circuit Court records. Divorce attorneys for the Ungers did not return messages seeking comment. "She was a great mother, she loved her children very much," said Amy Dively, Florence Unger's friend and co-worker at Flagstar Bank. Dively said Florence Unger was a well-liked loan officer who had recently transferred to the bank's Royal Oak branch. A funeral service is scheduled for today at the Ira Kaufman Chapel in Southfield. According to the chapel's Web site, the family will be gathering through Thursday at Mark Unger's residence in Huntington Woods. Someone who answered the phone at Mark Unger's residence said "the family's taking no questions." If Unger's death is ruled a homicide, it will be the second homicide case in Benzie County in just one week. "I don't know that that's happened before," said Cicchelli, who has been the county's prosecutor for about seven years and has one part-time assistant prosecutor. "We're going to do the best with what we have."
|
|
