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Family: “It’s Not Fair” Man Was Murdered Then Left Frozen in Snow

Posted at 10:41 PM, Jan 08, 2014
and last updated 2014-01-08 22:42:27-05

PARK TWP., Mich.- As detectives search for those responsible for killing Jose Hernandez ,38, his family and friends cannot imagine who would want to hurt him.

Hernandez’s niece says her uncle was always joking and making people laugh.  She called him energetic, saying “he just lifted your spirits up.”

Hernandez’s family says it’s not fair he was killed and left in the snow to freeze.

When he didn’t show up for work at Royal Technologies in Hudsonville Sunday night, family alerted police.

They found his body snow-covered and bloodied next to his running car, Monday night.  An autopsy revealed Hernandez died of head trauma.

Hernandez’s niece says they hoped his death was just an accident, that he had slipped and hit his head.

“It just doesn’t make sense why someone would want to hurt him,” she said.

Police believe Hernandez had been lying next to his running car for 24 hours before he was found in the Amberwood Apartments parking lot.

There he shared an apartment with his ex girlfriends son.

The young man says Hernandez was like a father to him and though his mother was recently remarried, he lived with Hernandez for the past year and a half.

A Jehovah’s witness, friends say Hernandez was dedicated to his faith and loved his little dog.  They say that’s what makes it so hard for them to comprehend someone leaving him outside to freeze.

Anyone who may have seen or heard anything at Amberwood Apartments Sunday night is asked to call the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department at (616) 738-4000 or Silent Observer (877) 88-SILENT.