LANSING, Mich. — Lansing police said Wednesday that Ingham County’s medical examiner labeled Denis Dunnebacke’s summer death along the River Trail as indeterminate, leaving cause unresolved.
Dunnebacke, 70, was discovered July 9 beneath the Kalamazoo Street bridge with facial injuries and still breathing. He died a week later, on July 16, during treatment. Detectives have weighed assault against a medical collapse.
The file stays open and is treated as suspicious. Across five River Trail deaths of unhoused men dating to October 2025, three are homicides and two — Dunnebacke plus Gino Chouinard — now carry indeterminate examiner findings.
Chief Robert Backus said at an Oct. 2 briefing that detectives notice shared traits such as overnight hours and head trauma, yet have not proved a single attacker links every case.
Extra patrols and portable cameras are already covering stretches of the path. Officials say work on the Dunnebacke file continues.
