GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The death of a missing 16-year-old whose body was found during a search south of Rockford on Friday has been ruled an accidental drowning by the medical examiner, Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said.
“Although it doesn’t bring back Cortez (McConer Jr.), obviously, it does sort of make you reflect on the fact that there was nothing that we could have done sooner that would have made a difference in the case,” Winstrom said.
The 16-year-old had been missing since Oct. 26 after he and some friends fled police in the Rockford area, according to authorities. The two friends were later found by police.
“The police officers on scene saw two individuals flee from the area. They never saw Cortez. No one knew except for the kids with him that Cortez had been in that vehicle. No one knew that Cortez was up in Rockford … until his friends made contact with the family and said ‘Hey, Cortez was with us.’ That was three or four days later that it was brought to my attention that these kids spoke up,” Winstrom said.
Winstrom said police initially thought the teen may be hiding from police, thinking he was in trouble, because he had been an occupant in a stolen car, but emphasized Friday morning that police did not intend to pursue criminal charges and just wanted to find him.
Cortez’s body was found Friday afternoon “in a secluded and heavily wooded area” south of Rockford after about three to four hours of searching. Winstrom said a jacket found during the search.
“So we could kind of see where his path was,” he said. “And it was a significant distance through the woods — across Wolverine (Boulevard), through the woods further, and then into the swampy area which then, actually, turned into a pond.”
A deaf search dog named Tucker, which also has limited vision, found the teen’s body. Winstrom credited the dog as being the likely reason why they found his body.
“What we learned today through the autopsy and what we saw yesterday with the recovery, I think he was deceased very shortly after he fled, so it wouldn’t have made a difference (had the friends told police sooner),” Winstrom said.
Winstrom explained that for the past three weeks, his agency and others have been searching for Cortez.
“We put 100% into finding Cortez. I wish it had had a happier ending, but it certainly didn’t turn out this way because of lack of trying or lack of care on our part or certainly on his family’s part,” he said.