Aleta Skomski, the woman who was seen out walking in all kinds of weather on various routes between Belleville, Van Buren Township, and Ypsilanti, was found dead in her home on Loza Lane in Lakeview Mobile Home Park in Belleville on Feb. 11.
She was born March 27, 1949 and was 70 years old.
Linda LeBlanc, an owner of the mobile home park, said her husband noted that Aleta hadn’t paid her rent this month. LeBlanc said Aleta always paid it on the fourth of the month, without fail. And, they hadn’t seen her recently.
She said she and her husband went to Aleta’s home in the evening. The home was dark. They knocked on the door but there was no answer. They had brought the door key with them, but the screendoor was locked, so they couldn’t get to the door.
They called Belleville Police to request a welfare check and Cpl. Todd Schrecengost responded. The LeBlanc’s son pried open the screendoor and Cpl. Schrecengost unlocked the door.
LeBlanc said she called out Aleta’s name and then their flashlight beam caught the figure of Aleta on her couch in the darkened home. An ambulance came out and she was pronounced dead.
LeBlanc said Schrecengost told them he believed she had been gone a week or longer. Police are trying to contact family members. The phone number LeBlanc had for Aleta’s sister, Nadine, no longer is good.
Aleta has been a regular point of concern to community members who tried to pick her up to help her with her walking trips, but she seldom allowed anyone to help her. Sometimes she would accept rides with women.
Anyone with any information on how to contact the family is asked to call Belleville Police. A funeral service or mass may be set and a Go Fund Me account could be set up to help pay for expenses.
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5 Comments
Weather
rip mam youre hometown will always think of you
Sad when there is no one who kept track of her – no family – no friends.
I graduated from Cabrini High School in Allen Park with Aleta in 1967. We made friends in third grade and, I feel, remained so through our 20’s, when we lost touch due to military moves with my husband, and after that, due to his job. I spent a lot of time at her home in Allen Park as kids, with late mom, Amelia Skomski, and her siblings, Calvin, Phillip, Tricia and Nadine. Many may not know that Aleta went to Madonna College (now university) and was a smart and artistically talented woman. I believe she had an art degree from Madonna. Rest In Peace, my friend.
I would see her on South 94 service drive where I live in all kinds of weather. I was worried about not having seen her in a while.
It’s a very sad story. From what I understand many people offered to give her a decent pair of walking shoes and she refused. I used to see her walking to Kmart, no sidewalks, she’s walking on the shoulder with shoes that were not meant for walking on stones. Then she was seen walking over the cross walk down Quirk Road toward Yankee Air Museum. Police officers would ask if she needed help and she’d waved them off. She seemed to be angry but perhaps she was lonely and troubled. Maybe the walking was her way of easing her troubles but if she had walked into the senior center at Van Buren Township she could have had a hot meal and the friendship of others but it seems she did not want to be bothered.