The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Man who found infant relives tragedy
Investigators continue search for abandoned baby's mother
By Dan DuChene, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 29, 2007
The Dziak family has moved on after discovering a dead infant in the back yard of their family-owned Ypsilanti Township motel.
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The only reminders of the March 19 incident are a few shreds of police tape and some disturbed soil by the back fence.
However, the situation has reminded Mike Dziak, Motel Manor's manager, of a tragedy that took place a year ago when the family's friend, and motel employee, Charlie Lau was brutally slain.
"This is a family-run business," Dziak said. "(Employees) just become part of the family."
The day Dziak, 37, stumbled upon an abandoned dead infant while walking his mother's dogs would have been Lau's 64th birthday.
He said he had discovered Lau's body in his home, a trailer on the motel's property, in April of last year.
Dziak described Lau as a soft-spoken, nice old man. He said he had discovered Lau's body with his hands duct taped and his mouth gagged.
He said Lau's niece and her boyfriend are awaiting trial for the homicide, which he said was motivated by money to buy drugs.
Lau, Dziak said, was murdered with a lawnmower blade and robbed.
Despite finding two dead bodies in less than a year, Dziak said he's glad that he made the gruesome discoveries rather than his mother.
"I just don't like to alarm the women around here," he said. "I can handle it. I can live with the memories."
Dziak said that in Lau's slaying, he had been bound and gagged. When he discovered the infant's body, a portion of the baby's neck, head and chin had been chewed away.
He said Lau's death, however, was the hardest on the family.
"Charlie was a hundred times harder," Dziak said. "My dad took it real hard."
Apart from tragedy, he said the family has a business to run, and hopes the news won't have too much of an impact on the motel.
"Bad publicity isn't ever good," Dziak said.
"It's just coincidence," he said. "It's unfortunate that this stuff happened here."
Dziak said he doesn't suspect any of the motel's clients dumped the baby. He said business was light, leading up to the discovery, and there only were three rooms occupied, one of which was the motel maid's room.
A man who has been living in the motel for some time occupied the second room and a man that Dziak described as quiet and orderly was renting the last room.
Aside from the guests, he said there were neither linens missing, nor any soiled.
"There's no indication," Dziak said.
Another possibility he said had been rumored was that a local prostitute had dumped the infant.
"That doesn't make sense," Dziak said. "Why they would dump it here is beyond me."
Just across the street from the motel are empty fields, compost yards and unoccupied wooded areas. He said all of those would be better options to leave the infant. However, he did say prostitution has been a problem for the motel.
"I can't stop prostitution," Dziak said. "But, I can calm it down around here."
He said he won't rent his rooms for prostitution. If he can identify a prostitute, he'll turn them away and tell them why.
"Prostitutes have stepped forward with information," Dziak said. "I don't know if it's for publicity or good graces, but they have."
Washtenaw County Sheriff's Commander Dave Egeler said, "We've received several tips, nothings turned into a good lead."
Egeler said the investigation is still active and open, but nothing substantial has developed. He said it is known that the baby was born alive, but the cause of death has not yet been determined by the county medical examiner.
On March 22, a representative from the medical examiner's office confirmed a cause of death had not been discovered. She said the examiner had spent a portion of last week out of the country and returned on Saturday. The representative asked not to be named.
While Dziak said he is just guessing, he assumes the baby was dumped by a local teen-age girl. He said there are houses in the area that he has had troubles with in the past.
"They just weren't thinking," Dziak said. "I'm really curious to find out who and why."
Egeler said police are still trying to identify and locate the mother of the infant. Anyone with information about the matter is asked to call the county tip line at 734-973-7711, or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-SPEAKUP.
Contact Staff Writer Dan DuChene at 1-734-697-8255 or at dduchene@heritage.com
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