Investigators: Blood found inside truck

GUN PLAIN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - A routine traffic crash became a more serious police investigation when what appeared to be blood in a pickup truck was spotted by a deputy.

Just before 9 a.m. Sept. 2, two vehicles collided at M-89 near 8th Street in Gun Plain Township in Allegan County.

The driver of one of the vehicles -- a white 1996 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with a blue stripe and a white cap -- was not injured. But evidence discovered in the back of his truck suggested to police that a traumatic event, possibly a crime, had occurred prior to the accident.

The deputy noticed "evidence of some form of traumatic event or injury not related to the traffic crash," authorities said in a release, and the driver, Harold James Ordway, did not provide a good explanation when asked.

Ordway, 41, is now charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He previously served time in a state prison for assault with a dangerous weapon, plus resisting and obstructing an officer, and was released on April 30, 2009.

The truck is being treated as the crime scene, and police are checking the area for missing people or anyone that may have known the pickup truck driver.

The Tacoma pickup was traveling westbound on M-89 before the crash, and may have been coming from the Delton area.