Christopher Haxel

Lansing State Journal

DELTA TWP. - Up to two dozen police and fire personnel spent several hours searching an area off Interstate 496 near I-96 for a body based on a tip received early Friday morning.

They did not find a body — only marijuana.

In a news release just before 11 a.m., Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich said a tip came in at 2:40 a.m. from passers-by who "thought they had seen a white male carrying a body into a wooded area" near where I-496 and I-96 merge.

Reich said a thorough search of the area, which lasted until after 10 a.m., resulted in deputies finding "several small fields of an illegal marijuana growing operation."

Found in an area bounded on all sides by the interchange, the plants were up to four feet tall and appeared carefully groomed. They were offset from thick brush by garden fencing, and several five-gallon water jugs were also strewn about the site.

Reich told the State Journal Friday evening that a total of 26 marijuana plants were located in the area.

He said police believe the bundle that witnesses saw a man carrying early Friday morning was not a body, but marijuana plants wrapped in a blanket.

While making a traffic stop on a suspect vehicle, investigators arrested a man on a warrant out of Ingham County, Reich said.

Reich said the investigation has been turned over to the Tri-County Metro Narcotics Unit.

Officials expected the removal of the plants to take several hours.

Both ramps from I-96 to eastbound I-496 were closed for several hours while officials searched a wooded area near the ramps.

Robert Merritt, Lansing police public information director, said his department was asked to assist with a search in the area and sent a unit with police dog. Officials from the Ingham County Sheriff's Office and Delta Township Fire Department also joined Eaton County Sheriff's deputies at the scene.

Beth LeBlanc contributed to this report. Contact Christopher Haxel at 517-377-1261 or chaxel@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHaxel.