You have likely heard of the 28 year old man who was found dead at the Ludington Area School District forest on the disc golf course Sunday evening, where Sheriff Kim Cole said that he does not believe that there are any public safety concerns with what he is calling a “suspicious” d....  The riddle was made larger with an enigmatic search done this afternoon for nothing specified.

 

Undoubtedly, the person that died was well known to the Mason County Sheriff's Office and the Ludington Police Department, as the decedent, James Walkley, pictured left, has been arrested numerous times in the county for drug offenses.  

While it may be a good guess that Walkley may have been instrumental in the cause of his death, due to his chosen lifestyle, it has been the ridiculous withholding of information by the police that has made this incident grow into something more than it should have.  For over a day, the public has been told that the death was suspicious, yet they should not be concerned.  They have not been given a reason why they shouldn't be concerned for what was dubbed the "disc golf death", or for whatever reason the police are not releasing the guy's name.  

When the public is not given pieces of information that would be logical to disseminate by those pledged to protect and serve, they may begin to panic or just as bad, be apathetic when danger is still afoot.  Here, if they wanted some time to contact the next of kin, that's understandable, but this could have been done that evening, and the sheriff could have described why he thought the death was suspicious by explaining that the cause was probably a drug overdose, for example, either later that night or early the next morning.  Tonight the COLDNews posted his death, without specifying anything (James Walkley obituary)

In Walkley's immediate sphere of influence into drug culture, it very easily could have been someone who wanted him dead for some real or perceived slight or debt.  If this looked more to be the case, why wasn't this broadcast to the public so they could take proper precautions?  It could have even been a police bust that had Walkley shot by the very fellows covering up the death over a day later.

Keeping the public out of the loop in unexplained deaths that happen around town, make the police officials look complicit in the crime.  The public has a right to be immediately and reasonably informed in such instances of the relevant information that could protect their families.

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Well said.

Over 100 views already, and this post is just an hour old now. There are rumors around that say our $5 Million law enforcement here isn't going out of it's way to announce to the public that Ludington is now infested badly with druggies, dealers, and the like, and they haven't had enough success to put it down strongly. So, what now?  I would be interested if the scheduled autopsy will also be sketchy, or come out with the real truth. Time will tell, but, I have some inkling that this bad chapter in Lud. is going to get worse before it gets better, sad.

If u only knew what his autopsy said u would see it is sketchy

According to the LDN on line article the Sheriff was stated as saying, “I’m certainly going to say it was a suspicious death, because it was a 28-year-old man found in the woods.” There also was no indication that Walkley was shot. If he was I would have hoped that the Sheriff would have revealed that. The Sheriff also stated that “Today, the victim will go to Kalamazoo for an autopsy. Our detectives will be in contact all day today with the medical examiner.”

P.M. TOWNSHIP — A search got underway mid Monday afternoon in the area of where a body was found Sunday.

Area firefighters and the Mason County Sheriff's Office Mounted Division have personnel staging from Bryant Road near the Ludington school forest.

No one at the scene would state what they were asked to search for, and a request for that information has been made to the county sheriff's office.

At 6:30 p.m., first responders ended their search and left the site

The body of a 28-year-old Mason County man was discovered by disc golfers at Leviathan Disc Golf Course off Jebavy Drive Sunday evening, drawing police, firefighters and Life EMS.

“Our detective bureau seems to think he was probably there less than two days,” said Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole.

He couldn’t say whether the office suspects foul play.

“Right now, it’s too early to tell,” Cole said. “We’re going to wait for the autopsy.

“I’m certainly going to say it was a suspicious death, because it was a 28-year-old man found in the woods.”

A call came in to Mason-Oceana 911 about 6:15 p.m. of a man not breathing/unresponsive in the woods south of Bryant Road.

Mason County Sheriff's Office detectives, Pere Marquette firefighters and Life EMS were among those agencies called to respond, and detectives remained at the scene until about 8:45 p.m. as dark set in.

“Today, the victim will go to Kalamazoo for an autopsy,” Cole said. “Our detectives will be in contact all day today with the medical examiner.”

Firefighters were at the scene from Ludington, Hamlin and Pere Marquette fire departments.

See more as information becomes available.

Rob Alway Why put his past in this article? Because the choices he made in his past not only impacted his ultimate outcome, but also put the public at risk. He made the choice to go onto public property, property owned by the school, which ultimately exists for our community's children.
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Cherri Jensen
Cherri Jensen do you know something we don't know, because you seem pretty sure that his past caused his death, you did say his past impacted his ultimate outcome, just curious how you would know that information, last I knew the police don't even have that information yet, they are still waiting for test results.
Whoever wrote this is a real piece of work. You're painting him out to be this terrible person because he made some bad choices in his life. Who the hell hasn't? Have some decency towards the grieving family and keep your rude opinions to yourself. And furthermore there is obviously a good reason the police did not want certain information out there so who are you to decide it needed to be posted all over Facebook?

Casey, a little more explanation would help people understand your stance on this issue.  Are you concerned with the LDN article or the posting of this topic and the comments about it? Whenever someone dies there will always be a grieving family but that should not prevent free flow of information. More information would be beneficial to the family, I would assume, so they can get to the truth as to what transpired with Walkley's death.

Absolutely! And, if there is a deadly batch of heroin in our town then certain addiction specialists should be contacting their patients. This is not something that should be kept secret to save the image of a town. Lives are at stake here!

The public records and links I have provided are not done so with any intention of being disrespectful of the dead, but to illustrate why this information should be out there and why our sheriff is negligent in not relating it to the public.  The public has a duty to know whether there is any danger to themselves or their families and friends, and the sheriff does not take that duty seriously.  

Many people posted this to social media including his family. Also, there is a donation can out for him at a local gas station in his name. It's not a secret. Plus, an Obituary! Why didn't his probation officer do her job when he didn't report and, was on a tether in one spot for two days? It's called challenging those who fail to do their duty. If he was given the deadly heroin that has been going around then people need to know NOW!!!

Whatever allegedly happened to this person should be made public immediately if drugs were involved. God forbid another person did not have that knowledge and fell to their death. This is irresponsible to keep this away from the safety of the public if this is the case.

Kid prob got 360 no scoped through middle doors on de_dust 2.

No but really like the kid probably had it coming. Gg 16-14. 

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