Michigan man falls 9 floors to his death playing hide-and-seek

A man likely fell to his death at an abandoned storage facility on St. Aubin and E. Ferry Streets in Detroit, Michigan, on Jan. 12, 2019. - Copyright Google Maps

By David K. Li with NBC News U.S. News

Published on 16/01/2019 - 17:00

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Jonathan Mazqai, 21, and two friends were inside an abandoned food storage warehouse in Detroit.

A 21-year-old man fell to his death playing hide-and-seek inside a long-abandoned warehouse in Detroit, authorities said Wednesday.

Jonathan Mazqai, from Taylor, Michigan, was playing the children's game with two pals before he plunged nine floors down an elevator shaft in the early morning hours of Saturday, police and fire officials said.

They played between midnight and 1:30 a.m. CT (2:30 a.m. ET) before the victim's two friends left because they couldn't find Mazqai, Detroit Deputy Fire Commissioner Dave Fornell told NBC News. They returned more than six hours later that morning and found Mazqai's body, officials said.

The case is still under investigation and Mazqai's friends haven't been arrested or charged with any crime, a police spokeswoman said.

The building on East Ferry Street near St. Aubin Street has been abandoned since 2002 and was last used as a processing plant and cold storage warehouse for Beatrice Foods, according to Fornell.

"The place is big and it's dark with a lot of holes in the floors," Fornell said. "It's a very dangerous place."

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