A Detroit-area man was so determined to get to Michigan from Arizona that he refused to stop and contact authorities after one of his passengers died.

Police said the man and his 92-year-old mother were returning to Michigan with a 31-year-old woman with whom the man said he had had a romantic relationship.

When officers arrived Tuesday at his son’s home in Warren, just north of Detroit, the man was weeping on the curb and his mother was in her wheelchair in the back of the van. The dead woman’s corpse was in the front passenger seat wearing a seatbelt and sunglasses.

Their 1,700 mile journey began Sunday in the Phoenix area after the woman checked herself out of a mental health facility there. At some point the woman, who had a history of substance abuse problems, may have taken oxycodone, [Warren Police Commissioner Jere] Green said.

“They stopped in Flagstaff and she went in to use the bathroom,” Green said. “We’re guessing she might have overdosed.”

[S]omeone at the mental health facility in Arizona called the woman’s cellphone to check on her. “It’s a courtesy call,” Green said. “He answers and said, ‘She can’t talk. She’s dead.'”

Via WTOP for the full story.