Bloomfield Township Police investigate suspicious death

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — The Bloomfield Township Police Department located a deceased woman at a residence while performing a welfare check at 12:15 p.m. Sept. 27 on Hedgewood Drive.

Ariane C Grunewald Bluem, 57, was found deceased on the couch.

Upon the welfare check, it appeared that she had been deceased for an extended period of time. A press release from the Bloomfield Township Police Department said the body was “severely decomposed.”

Bluem’s 53-year-old husband, Dirk Grunewald, was in the upstairs bedroom with multiple knives laid out in his vicinity. Grunewald refused to speak directly with officers and would not follow commands.

Crisis negotiators and members of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team were dispatched to the scene as a precaution to ensure everyone’s safety. Once negotiators successfully made contact, Grunewald was placed into protective custody at a local hospital for medical and mental health treatment.

The Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy. At press time, the cause and manner of Bluem’s death are unknown and pending further examinations.

On Oct. 1, the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office authorized a one-count felony warrant for Grunewald on the charge of failure to report a death/concealing the death of an individual. Grunewald was arraigned in 48th District Court, and a magistrate issued a $250,000 cash bond, no 10%.

The Bloomfield Township Police Department is waiting on a determination of the medical examiner on the cause or manner of death and continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.