Suspect arrested in connection to fatal vehicle fire

WEST FRANKFORT, Ill. — A Manistique man was arrested in Illinois in connection to a fatal vehicle fire that killed three people in Schoolcraft County.

Officers from the West Frankfort Police Department say Kenneth Daniel Brunke of Manistique was taken into custody Sunday after being identified as a person of interest during an investigation by the Michigan State Police Gladstone Post.

That investigation began when police found a burned vehicle on a gravel road in Doyle Township on April 17th containing the bodies of 42–year–old Jody Hutchinson, 31-year–old Carrie Nelson and 25-year–old Heather Aldrich.

Michigan State Police contacted the West Frankfort Police Department for assistance. Brunke was put on twenty-four hour surveillance by police on Friday while MSP detectives sought arrest warrants for three counts of homicide.

On Sunday, officers took Brunke into custody after he left the residence he was staying at to inspect storm damage from the previous evening. He was transported to the Franklin County Jail where he is being held without bond.