Man found dead on TV broadcast tower

[Guest123_x1]

One of the many dangers of climbing such high structures out in the open...
From what I've been hearing on the Michigan Buzzboard, it was apparently part of a hazing ritual.

~Otter Mii-kun

From https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/03/08/man-found-dead-on-broadcast-tower/ :

Man Found Dead On Broadcast Tower

March 8, 2011 5:33 PM

OAK PARK (WWJ) – A young man has been found dead 1,000 feet up near the top of a broadcast transmission tower in Oak Park.

Police said the man, who is believed to be in his 20′s, was found by a crew doing routine maintenance on the 1,100-foot tower. A witness said he was wearing only a t-shirt and underwear.

Police said man's body was found resting on a platform. It could have been there for a week or more since it's been that long since anyone has worked on the tower.

How the man got up there remains a mystery.

"(We believe) he went up there of his own accord, and we don't have any information on who he is at this point. We don't know how he got up there. It appears he got up there on his own, but the investigation is underway," said Southfield Police Lieutenant Samantha Kretzschmar.

Kretzschmar said it would have taken the man about an hour and a half to climb up that far.

TV Channels 20, 56, and 62 were off the air because of the situation. The tower, on Meyers Road just north of Eight Mile, is leased out by Richland Tower to WWJ-TV.

Stay with WWJ for more on this story.

Apparently, it's been ruled a suicide. From https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/03/09/death-of-man-found-atop-tower-ruled-a-suicide/ :

Death Of Man Found Atop Tower Ruled A Suicide

March 9, 2011 6:45 PM

OAK PARK (WWJ) - Authorities say a 23-year-old Detroit man found dead atop a TV transmission tower in Oak Park had been missing for more than a week.

The Oakland County Medical Examiner said Lasharr Gullap died from traumatic injuries from a fall. His death has been ruled a suicide.

Gullap's body, clad only in a t-shirt and underwear, was found Tuesday afternoon on a platform near the top of the 1,100-foot tower, on Eight Mile near Meyers. Workers made the discovery during routine maintenance.

Oak Park Police tell WWJ Newsradio 950 it appears Gullap fell after climbing to the top. He did not have access to the elevator which is kept locked.

Gullap was last seen February 28. His family reported him missing on March 3.

The tower is leased to WWJ-TV by Richland Towers.

The tower transmits the digital television signals for WMYD TV20, (really channel 21) a MyNetworkTV affiliate, WTVS 56 (really channel 43), a PBS member station run by the Detroit Educational Television Foundation, and WWJ-TV 62, (really channel 44) a CBS owned and operated station.
The tower was built for WWJ-TV in 1999 so it could provide coverage to the entire Detroit metro area, as an upgrade to lower-powered facilities. WWJ-TV in this instance was originally WGPR-TV, signed on in 1975, purchased by CBS in 1994-95 after they lost their previous affiliate WJBK-TV 2 to FOX. (From 1947 to 1978, the WWJ-TV calls were originally on what is now WDIV-TV 4, Detroit's NBC affiliate.)

 

[Livewire]

Wut.

I relly don't know what to say. If this was a hazing, then oh boy. They better hope to God that it doesn't get out into the open, because there would be a firestorm if it were from a collegiate hazing.

 

[Guest123_x1]

more information

Many on the Buzzboard discussing this topic are saying this Lasharr Gullap died from hypothermia. One other is saying that he was cooked to death by the radio frequencies emitted by the antennas at the top of the tower (the three stations are all on the UHF band (in this case between ~500 up to 700MHz), operating with between 400,000 to 600,000 watts of "effective radiated power". A microwave oven typically operates with ~1,000 watts at 2450MHz/2.45GHz. (Imagine what would've happened to him if he did this back in the full-power analog days-WWJ-TV operated analog channel 62 with 5,000,000 watts of ERP from the time this tower was activated until the DTV transition was completed on June 12, 2009.)

Officially the cause of this death is traumatic injury from a fall.
The family of Lasharr Gullap is disputing the story of his death. See https://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/ne...man-found-dead-on-tower-dispute-suicide-claim .

In addition, no suicide note was found at the tower or anywhere on its premises.

Oak Park Police are seeking additional clues as to this incident.

Had this man survived and been found alive, he would be prosecuted for trespassing.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

Wow, you live pretty close.

Anyways... that's... pretty damn dumb if you ask me. :/

 

[Luck]

You should've mentioned how it's almost exactly like Persona 4. It was even foggy in Michigan when it happened.

 

[aruchan]

He probably died of overexhaustion from climbing for an hour and a half (I would've). xD