62-year-old Ray Tomlinson continued driving on a road trip from Arizona to Michigan after he discovered his 31-year-old girlfriend was dead in the passenger’s seat.
Tomlinson told police that he touched the sleeping woman, and found her cold.
The Detroit Free Press reports that Tomlinson claimed that he was determined not to leave her body alone in a hospital. He was convinced that he had 48 hours to report the death, so he decided to continue driving and get her home to Michigan. He said, “I cared too much for her.”
New York Daily News reports that Tomlinson met the woman last year. She was homeless, and was waiting for her boyfriend to be released from prison.
Tomlinson helped the woman financially, and allowed her to stay with him. He told The Detroit Free Press that they eventually became a couple.
The couple left for Michigan on a road trip with Tomlinson’s 93-year-old mother when the woman’s death occurred.
Police have not yet determined a cause of death. They suspect that it could have been a drug overdose, because she was found with an empty bottle of OxyContin. Tomlinson has not been charged and foul play is not suspected.