The body of a Battle Creek man missing since last week has been found in Alabama, and authorities are calling it a suspicious death.
Claude VanDusen was last seen on Oct. 1 at a local gas station. Chief Deputy John Gleaton of the Escambia County Sheriff Department tells the Battle Creek Enquirer that the 57-year-old's body was found Thursday near the Conecuh River in rural southern Alabama, some 900 miles away.
Gleaton says VanDusen had been dead several days. Results of an autopsy held Friday at the Alabama State Police Department of Forensic Sciences were not immediately released.
Battle Creek police and VanDusen's wife Janet both say they knew of no reason why VanDusen, a maintenance worker for Battle Creek Health System, would leave the area.