ME: Remains found by dog in Sterling Heights from animal

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (WJBK) -- In Sterling Heights a vet tech walking a lab mix behind the Serenity Animal Hospital stumbled upon something no one expected -- what appeared to be human remains.

Dr. Michelle Meyers, a veterinarian, came out to take a closer look.

"He found a stomach separated from the rest of the body. It was kind of sitting in the grass and kind of decomposing, couldn't really tell if it's a dog or a person, and then some decomposing intestines not to far from the stomach. Nothing else. No fur, no blood, so it was just odd."

Veterinarians, police and investigators from the Macomb County Medical Examiner's Office could not determine on site if it was the insides of an animal or human. It was later determined they were from an animal.

This discovery automatically caught the attention of police since just last week workers found nearly 15 small body parts marked with an unrecognizable tattoo on a sewer grate 50 feet below the area of 15 Mile and Maple Lane less than a mile away.

"At this time, we feel that there is no connection to that at all. More of a precaution for us to come out. They called. It's suspicious even if it's an animal," said Sterling Heights Police Lieutenant Kevin Reese.

The recently mowed backyard of the hospital that backs up to the Red Run is where vet workers often walk the dogs for exercise.

Dr. Meyers said they were just out there Wednesday and noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

"You would think if you were walking a dog and it was there yesterday that they would've found it because the dogs would've smelled that."

This remains under investigation. We're told it has been handed over to the Animal Control Division. They have to figure out exactly how those insides got there and whether it is something suspicious. However, there is a lot of wildlife in the area.