A Michigan mother and her two children were found frozen to death over the weekend after a surviving daughter sought help from a stranger, authorities said.
The bodies of Monica Cannady, 35, and her sons Kyle Milton, 9, and Malik Milton, 3, were discovered Sunday afternoon in a park in Pontiac, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said.
Autopsies revealed all three succumbed to hypothermia.
Authorities were alerted to the tragedy by Cannady’s 10-year-old daughter, who knocked on a door and said her family was dead nearby. The daughter is in stable condition at the hospital.
“This tragedy was based in a mental health crisis,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard said at a Monday press conference.
Cannady allegedly believed someone was trying to kill her, FOX 2 Detroit reported. She fled from her apartment nearby sometime last week after relatives noticed her paranoid behavior.
The family allegedly spent Saturday knocking on doors and telling people they were hungry. Cannady refused to accept money and continued to wander the area.
Monica Cannady was found dead on Sunday alongside two of her children. Family Handout
The bodies were found in a desolate field in Pontiac. WJBKBouchard also said law enforcement received calls in recent days about an underdressed family on the streets in the cold. When officers searched the area, however, they did not find anyone.
Cannady instructed her children to hide if someone approached them, FOX 2 Detroit reported. Eventually, Bouchard explained, she told them to lie on the ground and sleep.
“The girl that survived woke up. No one else did,” Bouchard said, according to WXYZ.
“They was amazing, so smart, and it’s just so sad that they were so young,” Cannady’s brother said. Family HandoutBouchard concluded the press conference by pushing for funding for mental health resources.
“Mental health is one of the largest challenges of this time,” he said.
“The state and federal government needs to provide us with funding that allow us to perform more mental health services in partnership with the mental health community, including having more mental health practitioners on our team that can be part of a holistic response to mental health calls.”
Sheriff Michael Bouchard attributed the tragedy to a mental health crisis. WJBKA GoFundMe has also been set up for Cannady’s surviving daughter, who is now parentless: The children’s father, Kyle Milton, was murdered in 2021. His accused killer’s trial is underway, WXYZ reported.
“She was a good mama. She took care of her babies. They were dressed warm, they had clothes always matching, hair done, they were clean,” Kyle Milton’s stepmother, Theresa Milton, told the outlet of Cannady.
Milton said she had no knowledge of Cannady’s mental anguish.
Cannady was described by family as a “good mama” who doted on her young children. Family Handout“They was amazing, so smart, and it’s just so sad that they were so young, didn’t even get to experience life yet,” Cannady’s brother, Andre Harsten, told FOX 2 Detroit.
Harsten said he still has questions about the circumstances surrounding his sister’s death.
“And I wouldn’t blame her. I just want to know what happened. What was in her system? I need answers to that, so I can know what type of state of mind she was in. This never, ever has been her.”
