Timeline details Pontiac family's movements before they froze to death

At least one Oakland County deputy is under investigation as authorities review how a Pontiac mother and two of her children froze to death in a field last weekend after they were seen walking around improperly dressed for the cold.

Sheriff Michael Bouchard on Wednesday released a timeline detailing the multiple attempts to help Monica Cannady before she and two sons were found dead Sunday afternoon.

Bouchard ordered a comprehensive review after initial reports that the Sheriff’s Office had received calls about a woman and her children.

“I wanted a deeper dive that would potentially find ways to prevent such a tragedy in the future,” Bouchard said in a statement. “I ordered a complete review of all calls, radio traffic, a canvas of the neighborhood and any potential interactions with Monica Latrice Cannady and her children.”

The examination found no calls to the Sheriff’s Office about the family or contact with them on Saturday or Sunday "until Cannady’s 10-year-old daughter knocked on the door of a neighboring residence and reported her mother and siblings had died," according to the release. "Sheriff’s Investigators today learned Cannady had approached a home on Branch Street about 4 p.m. Saturday, knocked on the door but told the occupant she was at the wrong house and left."

According to the timeline, deputies were first notified that Cannady, 35, and her children, ages 10, 9 and 3, had stopped on Mill Street in downtown Pontiac around 1 p.m. Friday seeking help. Deputies immediately deployed a drone to search, officials said.

Within 10 minutes, a deputy found Cannady, sons Kyle Milton, 9, and Malik Milton, 3, and her 10-year-old daughter near Water Street and Mill Street.

"The deputy asked if Cannady needed help and where she was traveling," the Sheriff's Office said. "Cannady responded that she was OK and did not need any help and quickly walked away from the deputy."

Five minutes later, a second deputy spotted her inside McLaren Oakland Hospital in downtown Pontiac, "questioned her in depth" about needing help, but Cannady said she was "fine" after a visit and awaiting a ride. The woman again refused assistance.

The deputy followed the family as they walked down Woodward, repeatedly trying to convince Cannady to go to the nearby Pontiac substation or get in the patrol car, according to the release. "He advised her multiple times that she was not in trouble; he would not ask her name or identification and he simply wanted to help her and the children," investigators said. "Cannady was wearing a coat and the children were wearing sweatshirts and were wrapped in white bed sheets. She continued to refuse all attempts for assistance made by the deputy."

The deputy followed her to a nearby school and offered to take the family to the substation and provide the children coats, but Cannady declined the officers and walked away, authorities reported.

"The deputy spent approximately 20 minutes with Cannady until 1:30 p.m. on Friday," according to the release. "In those conversations, she was lucid, did not appear to be suffering from any medical or mental health crisis and asked several times to be left alone."

Relatives told investigators that about two hours later, she and the children went to her mother’s apartment. The youths napped but after Cannady woke them up after 30 minutes and fled following an argument about needing professional help.

"The family later told detectives that Cannady had been having mental health problems for the past three weeks," officials wrote.

At about 4:30 p.m. Friday, deputies met with Cannady’s aunt "who sought advice on how to properly commit Cannady to a treatment facility to get the help her family said she needed," according to the release.

Deputies visited Cannady’s apartment on North Perry to perform a welfare check but found no one there.

"After her death, investigators learned Cannady was the woman other deputies had previously encountered with the children and that Cannady believed some unknown person (or persons) was trying to kill her and the police were involved in the conspiracy," according to the release. "The children were told to run if they saw the police."

Sheriff’s Office dispatch also was notified around 4:43 p.m. that a woman walking with several children not properly dressed had been spotted near Franklin and Rapid in Pontiac. A deputy responded for an area check "but did not completely search the area as he was expected to and did not find or make contact with the family," officials said Wednesday.

"His performance is now under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit," officials said.

At around 5:20 p.m. Friday, two deputies were ordered back to the area to search but failed to find them after nearly 20 minutes of a complete perimeter search. Three deputies were again sent to the area around 7:30 and searched until 8:06 p.m.

While there were no calls to the Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications and Operations Center on Saturday related to the family, "a (canvass) of the neighborhood after the tragedy revealed that Cannady knocked on the door of a residence in the 200 block of Branch St. at 4 p.m. When an occupant answered, Cannady stated she was at the wrong address and walked away. No call was made to dispatch. Detectives are unaware of any other contacts the family had with anyone on Saturday."

On Sunday at around 3 p.m., Cannady’s daughter knocked on the door of a home and told the residents that her family was dead in an adjacent field. Deputies and detectives responded to the 200 block of Branch and found them lying on the ground in a vacant field.

The deaths were ruled accidental, and the Oakland County Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death for each as hypothermia.

Cannady's daughter remains hospitalized in stable but improving condition, officials said.“It is clear, as a society we need to find ways to better connect communication and the dots between families, mental health resources, social services and law-enforcement to ensure people don’t fall through the cracks in the future like this tragic situation,” Bouchard said. “I renew my call for state and federal funding to embed social service and mental health practitioners into our agency that can be immediately brought into play in situations like this. Every day we respond to circumstances that those resources in combination could potentially be a real lifesaver. Our prayers go to the family and friends.”