Police 'looking at everything' in death of Grosse Pointe Park woman

Grosse Pointe Park — As new details emerged Thursday in the strangling of a Grosse Pointe Park marketing executive, big questions remained unanswered about what happened and how Jane Bashara's SUV wound up six miles from her home in an alley on Detroit's east side, with her body inside.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled Bashara's death a homicide. Police haven't determined where Bashara was killed, but Grosse Pointe Park's last homicide was in the early 1990s, according to the city's Public Safety Department.

Police, meanwhile, are "looking at everything, all possibilities," said Sgt. Eren Stephens of the Detroit Police Department.

Bashara, last seen leaving a client meeting at DTE Energy's offices in downtown Detroit about 4 p.m. Tuesday, was found dead around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in her Mercedes-Benz in an alley on Detroit's east side, near Pinewood and Annott streets.

Bob Bashara, Jane's husband, met with police Thursday and told reporters he's "cooperating with authorities" to find out what happened to his wife of 26 years. He reported her missing around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"I lost my girlfriend and my partner, and it's just absolutely unthinkable," said Bashara, speaking to WDIV-TV.

Shock waves, meanwhile, continued to spread across Grosse Pointe Park as many remembered Bashara as a wonderful person. It dominated discussion at Janet's Lunch, a longtime diner on Kercheval.

"That's all people were talking about," said cook Betty Howell.

Howell, 59, who has worked at the diner since 1983, said Bashara's death won't change how she lives her life — though she might be more watchful.

"I've lived in Detroit all my life, so I'm not going to sit there and be afraid to go anywhere," she said. "… I'm not going to be scared, but I am going to watch myself."

Brittany Paquette, who grew up in Grosse Pointe, started a Facebook group called "Citizens for Action" after learning of Bashara's death. She sees it as a way for Grosse Pointers to brainstorm ways to make the city safer. By Thursday afternoon, the closed group had more than 600 members.

"We assume we live in a safe community until something happens to us," said Paquette, who is hoping to plan the group's first meeting before mid-February.

Paquette said she has spoken to some Grosse Pointers who don't feel safe. But property crimes and violent crimes have gone down in Grosse Pointe Park since the mid-2000s, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report.

Property crimes fell more than 30 percent between 2006-10, and violent crimes reported each year fell from 23 to 10, a 56 percent drop. Figures for 2011 haven't been released yet.

"Grosse Pointe Park has the lowest (crime rate) of all the Grosse Pointes," said Bob Larson, who owns Janet's Lunch.

But Jerry Simpson, who has lived in Detroit right next to the Grosse Pointe Park border since 1970, believes the area has changed over the decades. He said there was a time when the "line of demarcation" between Detroit and Grosse Pointe Park wasn't really noticeable. That isn't the case anymore, he said.

Larson said more crimes, such as carjackings, happen near Mack Avenue, outside Grosse Pointe Park. Still, he questions what happened to Bashara.

"The question is, 'Where did she go when she left her home?'" he said.

Police are likely trying to answer the same question.

Gwenn Samuel, Bob Bashara's aunt and godmother, said her nephew believed his wife had gone to run errands when he got home from work Tuesday evening, but there was "no note. No car." Her work ID was at home, but other personal belongings were missing, police said. Samuel said Bashara was "very Type A" and didn't operate that way.

Samuel said it's been a "very tough go" for the Bashara family over the past few days. The couple have a son who lives in Iowa and was to arrive Thursday night, and a daughter, a student at the University of Michigan.

"This doesn't happen here," she said. "This doesn't happen here. Jane was the kindest, loveliest person."

mfeighan@detnews.com

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