A woman was found dead last week in her car in the Suites parking lot surrounded by a spill of gasoline.
Jeanne Marie Bryan, age 50, of Adrian, Michigan, was found unresponsive by campus security and then the Hillsdale Police Department before being pronounced dead on the scene.
“Someone said that a lady was dead in a car,” said sophomore Kyle Marsh, a resident of the Suites.
Campus security had been called to the Suites around 11 p.m., where they discovered Bryan in the driver’s seat of a parked car. Chad Sparr and other campus security members dispatched the Hillsdale Police Department, who arrived around 11:10 p.m. to find the woman dead.
According to the police statement, the discovery of a large gasoline spill prompted officers to create a large perimeter and use extra caution, so as to avoid an explosion.
Although the investigation is still ongoing, preliminary findings indicate no foul play was involved. Also, the police said there seems to be no connection between the victim and Hillsdale College.
Bryan worked at the ProMedica Hospice center in Toledo, Ohio. The hospital system declined to give comment at this time. Previously, she owned and operated Bryan’s Busy Bees Daycare in Adrian for 14 years, according to the obituary that ran on Aug. 27 in the Adrian Telegram. Bryan is survived by her husband, Bradley, a son, two daughters, and five grandchildren.
An initial autopsy was performed in Lucas County in Ohio.
“Generally it takes four weeks following the gross autopsy for serology and toxicology results to come back, and those are passed to the county medical examiner,” said William Whorley, director of campus security. “Then we will find out if there was anything in the system outside of normal bodily chemistries. “
