DETROIT (AP) -- Detroit police are defending their response to a tip that a body was encased in ice in an abandoned warehouse. Spokesman James Tate says three officers went to the warehouse late Tuesday afternoon after a call from a Detroit News reporter.
They left after searching for 30 minutes. Reporter Charlie LeDuff was at the warehouse Wednesday when police located the body at the bottom of an elevator shaft.
Authorities were waiting for the body to thaw before learning more about the victim.
Tate said Friday that LeDuff was not with officers during the first search Tuesday, and police did not ask him to come to the scene at that time.
Tate says he's trying to knock down a perception that police didn't care about the body. He says the warehouse is large, dark and full of debris.
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