(GORE TWP.) — Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson say his deputies responded to Pochert Road south of M-25 in Gore Township around 9:00 Saturday morning where 62-year-old Benita Lawes of Bad Axe was found dead in her minivan. The van appeared to have gone off the road at a slow rate of speed and came to rest against a tree. Deputies found the vehicle still running, locked and in gear and had to break out a window to get access to the woman. Police speculate that the woman had a medical emergency that lead to her death. Police say it appears the incident most likely happened on Friday afternoon as witnesses say they saw the car there but thought it belonged to someone who was hunting in the area. Hanson says that unless a passerby had stopped to look at the vehicle closely, it would have appeared to have been just parked there. Lawes was pronounced dead at the scene by the Huron County Medical Examiner. An autopsy has been scheduled.
