DETROIT – Tim Majchrzak was a brother to 10 and an uncle to 15 nieces and nephews.
“He was so funny, he was the best story teller,” said his sister, Mari Anne Majchrzak.
The 59-year-old was found dead in Detroit and brought to the Wayne County Medical Examiner. Despite ID being on him, his family was not contacted until 17 months later.
“Our family’s very close,” Mari Anne Majchrzak said. “We saw him a lot, family occasions, he popped by somebody’s house.”
She remembers the last time her brother was seen. It was March 23, 2018. A day later, his siblings tried to reach him.
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Days passed and the family posted their worry about Tim on social media.
“We even sent out two search parties to canvass the area where he was last seen,” said Mari Anne Majchrzak.
Tim was known to stay at a white house in the 9000 block of Cadiuex Avenue. He was known to have a drug addiction, but if he was found there, the Wayne County Morgue would know. The family called the morgue numerous times asking about Tim Majchrzak.
“(We were told) ‘We don’t have anybody here, we don’t have anybody like that,’” said Tim’s younger brother, Jeff Majchrzak. “When they found his body, his identification was on him, it says that in the report.”
A report from the medical examiner’s officer -- dating back to March 25, 2018 -- states where Tim Majchrzak was found and also that his ID was on him. According to the family lawsuit, an autopsy was done the same day his body was brought in. The lawsuit states the medical examiner, Dr. Carl Schmidt, unlawfully and intentionally mutilated Tim’s body without consent.
“Then to go ahead and do an autopsy unnecessarily ... we do have some questions,” said Jeff Majchrzak.
Nearly a year and a half would pass, and according to the lawsuit, the morgue contacted a sister-in-law in August 2019 to acknowledge it had his body.
“We really didn’t get much of a response. All they could tell us was the last name misspelled by one letter,” said Mari Anne Majchrzak.
The family said the sight of Tim’s mutilated and decomposed body shook them to the core. The lawsuit states: “Timothy’s body was severely decomposed” and his body was “covered in mold and skin slippage was significant, with some skin having slid off the body and laid in the bottom of the body bag.”
“It’s just unjust, It’s just wrong, it’s wrong, and they need to get this right,” said Mari Anne Majchrzak.
The Wayne County medical examiner declined to speak on this case. Schmidt has been called to talk to the Wayne County Department of Health board on Oct. 26 to address issues inside the morgue.