Police say they’re still not sure exactly how Emily Simunic died.
Simunic, 29, left her Independence Township home June 25 on her way to meet a friend in West Branch, and planned to continue on to St. Ignance.
She never showed up.
Five days later, Independence Township detectives found Simunic’s body lying next to her car, which apparently went off the road and down a sloping embankment near I-75 and M-10.
‘From what we’ve heard there were no obvious signs of trauma,? said Lt. Dale LaBair, commander of the Independence Township substation. ‘The autopsy results haven’t been completed or published.?
According to police reports, Simunic was first reported missing June 26 by her mother, Pamela Ploffe of Flushing.
A Flushing police officer notified Independence Township detectives that Simunic left her home in the 5400 block of Boyne Trail the evening of June 25, and hadn’t been heard from.
Her family said Simunic was in the process of a divorce, but was excited about a new dating relationship with the man she was supposed to meet in West Branch.
Police confirmed he never heard from her.
Police spent the following days putting together the pieces; Simunic’s cell phone signal was tracked near 3 Mile Road, and Michigan State Police conducted a search of the area but found nothing. A motorist called 911 claiming to have seen a car go off the road, but gave a location about a mile north of where Simunic was found.
On June 30, Independence Township Det. Bill Baldwin and Det. John MacDonald set out to retrace Simunic’s steps, and check the location of her last-known cell phone signal near Bay City.
It was there, near I-75 and M-10, the detectives spotted a freshly broken pine tree and got out to investigate.
‘There was a silver car about 15 feet down into the ditch,? MacDonald. ‘Her body was outside the car.?
Although Simunic’s family and MSP had previously checked the area, detectives were not surprised no one spotted the accident scene earlier.
‘If John (MacDonald) hadn’t been in the passenger seat watching that side of the road, I wouldn’t have seen anything,? said Baldwin. ‘The way the road curves there, you’re looking in the opposite direction to stay on the road.?
According to police reports, several of Simunic’s friends said she may have attended a party the evening she disappeared, and suggested she may have been drinking or smoking marijuana.
But police were making no conclusions, as autopsy results were incomplete.