The Mysterious Marina Death of Lingyan Zou

[XLFD]

I greatly thank the FOIA Coordinator of Mason County for actually releasing records dealing with the autopsy and coroner findings in the death of the young lady on June 2, or before, that was found in the Ludington Municipal Marina.  Release of such records lately by City and County agencies has been a struggle.

The Death Scene Investigation Report was created by Tiffany Lamb, a field investigator for the County.  On this document we find that a person named Bob Nelson originally reported the incident, the water temperature was in the low 50s.  The narrative in that document went as followed:

"The body of an unidentified female in her mid twenties to early thirties was found by a passerby. Decedent was found face down floating in water of Ludington munipal’s marina near dock “F”. Decedent is approximately 135lbs, 5’0 inches tall with shoulder length black hair and appears to be of Asian decedent. Upon examination of body on scene no outward sign of trauma seen. The decedent was wearing a silver colored bracelet on her left wrist, both earlobes appeared to be pierced no obvious tattoos or birthmarks found on body. The decedent was found wearing no shoes, black stretch pants, red underwear, a bluish/gray 3/4lengh pinstriped shirt and a tan lace bra. In order to determine if any outward signs of trauma were present decedent’s pants and underwear taken off and submitted as evidence to LPD Detective on scene, her shirt was also unbuttoned but left on persons and transported wearing her bra and shirt to the morgue to be collected as evidence at time of autopsy. Circumstances surrounding death and identification still pending at this time."

The death certificate pronounced the dead woman as Lingyan Zou, as contrasted with the name the Ludington Police Department released to the media.  Though the name "Lingyan Zou" was used throughout the autopsy, death certificate, and toxicology report, the LPD has never corrected this oversight:   Lingyan Zou Death Certificate

We then get to the thirteen page autopsy report.  This was conducted on June 3, and printed out on June 16.  The autopsy narrative:  "I was notified on Saturday, June 2, 2012 of the death of a young Asian woman by Tiffany Lamb, a medical legal investigator, was called to the Ludington Marina in front of PM Steamers restaurant to investigate a body found floating in the water. The decedent was a 24 year-old Asian woman, 5'1" tall weighing an estimated 135 pounds. She had no identification papers. The body was brought to the morgue by EMS and the refrigerator door was sealed by members of the LPD. An autopsy was scheduled for Sunday at 10: 00 A.M.  As per the LPD, the patient is on medication  (info redacted)

She had been an inpatient at (info redacted) Hospital in New York City where she was diagnosed and treated for (info redacted).

The body was removed from the refrigerator under supervision of members of the LPD. Evidence tape was intact. The body clothed in a bra and shirt. The pants and panties had been removed by the LPD prior to arrival in the morgue. The body was thoroughly photographed. Fingerprints were obtained followed by fingernail scrapings. A "rape-kit" to contain oral, vaginal and anal swabs along with hair was obtained and sent with the LPD. Blood for toxicology was obtained from the right femoral artery. A complete autopsy ensued."

The autopsy also declares that there is no trauma to the body, head, neck or other parts of the body.  It does declare the lungs have congestion, focal atelectasis and a few areas of autolysis.  This is consistent with not getting air into the lungs, and hence drowning.

It says under toxicology:  "Postmortem toxicology performed by IVMS Labs is negative for therapeutic drugs and drugs of abuse."  Effectively, this toxicology report said she had positive results for caffeine, which meant she had probably had a bit of coffee, tea, or soda pop prior to her death.  It does not show any use of abused drugs or alcohol above any reporting limits:  Lingyan Zou Toxicology .

At the end of the autopsy, M.E. Marc Keen says there are no abnormal findings, and issues the opinion:  "This patient with a well-documented record of (information redacted) was found floating in the water.  There was no trauma. There were no drugs in her system. She probably committed suicide."    Here is that report in its entirety.

Lingyan Zou Autopsy Report

On July 7, I also sent a FOIA request to the City of Ludington asking for "All records in possession of the City of Ludington and its agencies dealing with the investigation of the death of Ling Lang Zou that occurred down at the Ludington Municipal Marina on June 2, 2012."  On July 16, I got back the same response I got when I requested records concerning investigations into the 'Baby Kate' case a year after she disappeared and after someone had been sentenced to 10-15 years.  So...

Over a month after the toxicology report was sent back to the LPD and coroner (June 14), over a month after the autopsy report was finalized (June 16), over a month after the LPD investigator said the investigation was about to close, the City of Ludington FOIA Coordinator John Shay, with Ludington Police Chief Mark Barnett's approval has said that the investigation records of this death cannot be released because of FOIA exemption in section 13 (1) (b):  Investigating records compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that disclosure as a public record would do any of the following:

(i) Interfere with law enforcement proceedings.

(ii) Deprive a person of the right to a fair trial or impartial administrative adjudication.

(iii) Constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

(iv) Disclose the identity of a confidential source, or if the record is compiled by a law enforcement agency in the course of a criminal investigation, disclose confidential information furnished only by a confidential source.

Is there to be a law enforcement proceeding, trial, or confidential source on this incident, with no evidence of foul play?  You cannot commit an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy on a dead person.  What are they hiding this time?

Why is LPD's Chief Mark Barnett refusing to put out records that by law, should be released?  Why did he release misinformation about the woman's name, and never corrected it?  Why is a coroner's opinion allowed to be the probable cause of death, when he never actually investigated anything but the victim, whose cause of death was drowning/asphyxiation?

Lingyan Zou was not dressed in a manner to take a suicidal plunge that night, she did not know how deep the marina was where she entered it but should have known the water was very cold; she was not intoxicated with any drugs or alcohol, and it is inconclusive whether she had any of the medications in her system that she took for her illness (which has been reported as schizophrenia), since the toxicology tests likely didn't cover those.

More than likely, the City of Ludington is afraid to show us the records we pay them to produce because it would show the liability they had for this woman's death.  Anyone can misstep or trip on the transient marina docks and fall into the deep water and drown in quick fashion from the shock of the fall or the cold water.  Why would anyone put a sidewalk on the side of a cliff with no guardrail?

[XLFD]

Unfortunately for the LPD, most speculation I hear has more in dealing with why they have been so reluctant to share their findings.  And why they release a name that doesn't match the actual name of the decedent.  It makes one wonder if she actually was the same person as the one at Bellevue Hospital, or whether that was just a release to the coroner and the public to show the potential for suicide. 

Either way, it will eventually come out.  Justice for Lingyan Zou, and safety rails for the transient dock walkway.