(5-28-25) On 5/26/2025 at approximately 10:41AM, the Defiance Police Department responded to 925 S. Clinton Street for a report of a dog that was left unattended in a vehicle. It was learned that the vehicle belonged to a missing/endangered person out of Boyne City, Michigan. The Defiance Police Department then issued a BOLO for the missing person and opened an investigation to assist with locating the endangered person.

On 5/27/2025 at approximately 8:00PM, the Defiance County E-911 Center took a call from a fisherman who was reporting a body on an island near Riverside Park. With assistance from the Defiance County Sheriff’s Office, the Defiance Fire Department, and the Defiance County Coroners Office, the body was recovered and identified as Kristin Bates (57), the missing person out of Boyne City, Michigan.

The case of death is under investigation pending an autopsy by the Lucas County Coroner’s Office.