LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A state representative from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has been found dead hours after he was released from jail on what may have been his second drunken driving arrest in less than two years.
Police say John Kivela’s body was found about 1 p.m. Tuesday at a Lansing home and that there are no obvious indications of foul play.
Clinton County Sheriff Lawrence Jerue told The Associated Press that the Marquette Democrat was arrested Monday on southbound U.S. 127 near Maple Rapids. Jerue would not say what charge Kivela faced, but the Detroit Free Press reported he was arrested for drunken driving.
Jerue said Kivela was released Tuesday on bond.
Kivela pleaded guilty in December 2015 to drunken driving after his arrest the previous month in Clinton County.
Gov. Rick Snyder and other state elected officials say they are saddened by Kivela’s death.
Snyder called the Marquette Democrat a “great guy” in announcing Kivela’s death Tuesday to reporters during a news conference on a state Supreme Court appointment.
