DETROIT – It has been six years since Tiane Brown was found dead near Detroit’s Packard Plant, and her family is still looking for answers.
Brown, a single mother of three children from Waterford, was studying law at Wayne State University. On Oct. 28, 2013, she finished a class and headed to the undergraduate library to take a test.
When Brown didn’t return home, her mother went to the library to look for her.
“I checked every conference room. They have little rooms where study groups are. I checked every conference room and I couldn’t find her,” Sheryl Jones said.
Jones said Wayne State Police checked the parking lot and didn’t see her daughter’s vehicle.
Police later said she logged off her computer at the library about 11 p.m.
A search continued for nearly two whole days. On Oct. 30, 2013, police reached out to Jones after two homeless men found Brown’s purple Chevrolet Trailblazer parked in a fenced area near the Packard Plant.
Brown’s body was in the vehicle. She was face down on the dashboard with a gunshot wound behind her ear.
“The door was open and she had her seat belt on. So, whoever it was, they said she was comfortable. She was driving barefoot. So, I think she may have been trying to get out of the car,” Jones said.
Brown’s family struggled to tell her daughters, who were 14 years old, 7 years old and 18 months old, what happened to their mother.
“I tell them that what happened was wrong. It’s heinous. We all wish it never happened, but we can’t explain why. We have to pray for our patience and comfort and understanding," Brown said.
On the anniversary of the discovery of Brown’s body, her family continues to hope someone will come forward with information about her death.
Detectives said they continue to follow leads in the case.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.