OCEOLA TOWNSHIP (WWJ) The search for a missing elderly man from Livingston County has come to a devastating end.
The Livingston County Sheriff's Office told WWJ Jerry Spaulding, 85, was found dead during the night of Sunday, July 13, about a mile away from his family's Oceola Township property.
"There was a farmer in the area, a calf happened to wander off, got separated from the herd... so (the farmer) went out to round the gap up and that's when he found Mr. Spaulding," Sheriff Mike Muprhy said in an interview with WWJ's Pat Vitale.
According to Murphy; investigators believe Spaulding died a short time after his disappearance.
"Based on the condition of the body," he said, "It's pretty unlikely that Mr. Spaulding made it through the initial night, and I would guess, certainly not through the second night."
His body was found eight days after he went missing. Authorities said Spaulding left his property on Argentine Road near Brophy after telling his sister he was going for a walk in the woods.
His disappearance spurred a massive search effort by multiple agencies which involved searching hundreds of acres of swamp and woods--including Spaulding's 40-acre property-- with ATV's, drones, helicopters and canines.
"We searched that area that he was eventually located in a couple of times with all the resources that we had, and were unable to locate him," Murphy said. "But it's a direct tribute to the terrain there. Very dense and swampy areas."
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office, Lapeer County Sheriff's Office and an independent Michigan Search and Rescue Team all joined the effort.
Authorities said an autopsy will be performed to determine Spaulding's cause of death.
Murphy said it's not the resolution anyone would have wanted, but he's grateful the family won't have to live for years without answers: "This could have gone on for a long time."