Body of Milwaukee, Wisconsin teenager found in SUV 4 days after it was towed to crash site

MILWAUKEE – The body of a 17-year-old Milwaukee boy was found inside an SUV four days after the vehicle was towed to a city lot following a crash, authorities said.

Milwaukee police officers who were called to the scene Monday morning saw the teenager’s body on the floor of the back of the SUV, police said in a statement.

The boy’s cause of death is under investigation by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office, while the Milwaukee Police Department and the city’s Department of Public Works will investigate the circumstances that led to the youth’s body not initially being found in the SUV, police said.

An SUV that police suspected was stolen was towed to a parking lot last Thursday after it was severely damaged when it crashed into a tree. As a result of the accident, the 16-year-old boy who was driving the car was injured and taken into custody, police said.

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The incident marked the third time since 2018 that city staff left someone in a car that ended up being towed, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

In January 2018, an 8-year-old girl spent a freezing night alone in a van that was towed after her mother was pulled over during a traffic stop. The girl was found the next morning by the attendant on the tow truck after hearing her crying.

The girl’s family sued the city and reached a settlement last year that paid her family $50,000.

In January 2022, Milwaukee’s fire chief apologized for his department’s failure to find the body of a 21-year-old woman in a vehicle that was towed after it was involved in a fiery crash.