Dead family member found in welfare check

Bloomfield Township police, around noon on Saturday, September 27, during a welfare check in the 4600 block of Hedgewood Drive, discovered a deceased woman inside the home, along with her husband who had been living with the deceased person for an extended period of time and was charged and arraigned on a felony charge of failure to report a death/concealing the death of an individual.

Officers from the Bloomfield Township Police Department responded to a residence and located a 57-year-old female resident, Ariane C. Grunewald Bluem, deceased on the couch. It appeared that Ariane had been deceased for an extended period of time as she was severely decomposed, according to the police report on the incident.

During the incident, Ariane’s 53-year-old husband, Dirk Grunewald, was located in the upstairs bedroom where he had multiple knives laid out in his vicinity. Dirk refused to speak directly with officers and would not follow commands. As a precaution, crisis negotiators and members of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team were dispatched to the scene to ensure everyone's safety. Negotiators successfully made contact and Dirk was placed into protective custody at Trinity Health Oakland for medical and mental health treatment.

An autopsy was conducted by the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office but the cause and manner of Ariane’s death are still unknown and pending further examinations.

On Wednesday, October 1, the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office authorized a one count felony warrant for Dirk Grunewald on the charge of failure to report a death/concealing the death of an individual. Grunewald was arraigned at the 48th District Court and the magistrate issued a $250,000 cash bond (no 10 percent).

The Bloomfield Township Police Department said it continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding this death.