Missing Michigan doctor found dead in pond on his property

A Michigan doctor who had been missing for nearly a week was found dead Tuesday in a pond on his property.

Dr. Bolek Payan was last seen leaving Henry Ford Allegiance Health on Dec. 22 in the city of Jackson, about 70 miles west of Detroit.

Members of Payan’s family had traveled to Michigan expecting to spend the holidays with him, according to Lansing NBC affiliate WILX. They spotted Payan’s vehicle at his home but couldn’t find him, and reported him missing.

Authorities searched the home and the surrounding area but couldn’t find Payan. Home surveillance video showed him walking out of his house on Dec. 22, police said. On Monday, searchers began cutting holes in the ice of a pond on Payan’s property.

Payan’s body was found in the pond around 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the Blackman-Leoni Township police said in a Facebook post. Investigators said Payan was likely dead before he was reported missing, given the conditions under the icy pond.

Authorities did not publicly speculate on the cause of Payan’s death or how or why he ended up under the frozen pond.

“The Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office will be conducting an autopsy and toxicology testing, which will aid in further investigating this incident,” the public safety department said.

Payan graduated from Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2017 and began his residency at Henry Ford in 2020.