ROCKFORD, MI -- The body of a teen missing for more than three weeks has been found in a heavily wooded area near Rockford, police said.
Police and the family of 16-year-old Cortez McConer have been looking for him since Oct. 28.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom earlier said Cortez wasn’t in any trouble, but they only hoped to find him safe so he could be brought to family.
Police had conducted multiple searches for Cortez since he went missing and another one took place Friday, Nov. 22 in area south of 10 Mile Road NE at Wolverine Boulevard.
“This is not the outcome we had hoped for,” Winstrom said in a written statement. “On behalf of GRPD, we send our heartfelt condolences to Cortez’s family and friends and the many in our community who will be grieving alongside them.”
Cortez was with two friends Oct. 28 near the McDonald’s restaurant on East Division Avenue in Rockford. For an unknown reason, Cortez and his friends fled from police and he was last seen near Courtland Drive NE and Kies Street NE.
The teen’s family and friends, prior to Friday’s discovery, had planned a unity stance unity stance for Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Family Fare parking lot in Rockford.
They simply wanted to alert people to keep an eye out for Cortez.