By By BEN RAYMOND LODE / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Two young men playing in the woods allegedly found a body on Thursday.
The boys told officers they believed they had found a human body before officers responded to the 900 block of South Ninth Street, which is located within the Niles city limits, Niles City Police Department said in a press release issued on Thursday evening.
The officers entered the woods a short distance from the roadway and did locate the human remains of an adult black male, police said.
Detectives were then called to the scene. The body was transported to Lakeland Hospital in St. Joseph, where an autopsy was under way this morning.
The incident remains under investigation.
Police said they expect to make identification and notify family members sometime on Friday afternoon.
In other police reports:
Neil Courtney Bennett, 31, 637, S. Third St., Niles, was arrested after officers stopped a red Ford Escort for an alleged defective plate light, the police report said.
The officers made contact with the people in the vehicle and all subjects were checked through the law enforcement information network.
Officers found Bennett had a warrant out for his arrest.
Bennett was arrested and transported to the Niles City Police Department where he was booked and lodged.
Bond was set at $120,000.
Tina Marie Lutz, 42, 12271 Rangeline Road, Berrien Springs, was arrested after officer parked on 17th Street, near Broadway Street recognized Lutz as a wanted subject out of the Berrien County Sheriff's Department, the police report said.
The officers made contact with Lutz after she pulled into Clark Oil Station at 17th and Oak streets.
Lutz, who had six warrants out of the county sheriff's department, was arrested and transported to the Niles City Police Department where she was given a total bond of $60,000.