crm_get_contact returns contact without contact_type_object

My code does:

global $user;
$params = array('email' => $user->mail);
$contact =& crm_get_contact($params);

And returns the object below with [contact_type_object] not set. This causes problems when I pass it to crm_add_group_contacts(). The error returned by crm_add_group_contacts is 8000 "Invalid Contact Object passed in". The complete error object from the crm_add_group_contacts() is shown below the Contact Object. I retested with Drupal 4.7 and CiviCRM 1.5 and it works fine there.

I have CiviCRM 1.6 build 8052 with php5 on windows. I have a new Drupal database and a new CiviCRM 1.6 database. I am upgrading a module from Drupal 4.7 -> 5.0: http://cvs.drupal.org/viewcvs/drupal/contributions/modules/civicrm_activeuser/civicrm_activeuser.module

CRM_Contact_BAO_Contact Object
(
[nick_name] =>
[domain_id] => 1
[contact_type] => Individual
[do_not_email] => 0
[do_not_phone] => 0
[do_not_mail] => 0
[contact_sub_type] =>
[legal_identifier] =>
[external_identifier] =>
[sort_name] => douggreen@douggreenconsulting.com
[display_name] => douggreen@douggreenconsulting.com
[home_URL] =>
[image_URL] =>
[preferred_communication_method] =>
[preferred_mail_format] => Both
[do_not_trade] => 0
[hash] => d40e38705c22b186d5a863502930b9e5
[is_opt_out] => 0
[id] => 1
[source] =>
[_DB_DataObject_version] => 1.8.4
[__table] => civicrm_contact
[N] => 1
[_database_dsn] =>
[_database_dsn_md5] => 3a14c94fa8a939ffab43eb70f8e15f5f
[_database] => doug_civicrm16
[_DB_resultid] => 34
[_resultFields] =>
[_link_loaded] =>
[_join] =>
[_lastError] =>
[_query] => Array
(
[condition] =>
[group_by] =>
[order_by] =>
[having] =>
[limit_start] =>
[limit_count] =>
[data_select] => *
)

[contact_id] => 1
[contact_type_object] =>
[location] => Array
(
[1] => CRM_Core_BAO_Location Object
(
[id] => 1
[entity_table] => civicrm_contact
[entity_id] => 1
[location_type_id] => 1
[is_primary] => 1
[name] =>
[_DB_DataObject_version] => 1.8.4
[__table] => civicrm_location
[N] => 1
[_database_dsn] =>
[_database_dsn_md5] => 3a14c94fa8a939ffab43eb70f8e15f5f
[_database] => doug_civicrm16
[_DB_resultid] => 36
[_resultFields] =>
[_link_loaded] =>
[_join] =>
[_lastError] =>
[address] =>
[phone] => Array
(
)

[email] => Array
(
[1] => CRM_Core_BAO_Email Object
(
[id] => 1
[location_id] => 1
[email] => douggreen@douggreenconsulting.com
[is_primary] => 1
[on_hold] => 0
[hold_date] =>
[reset_date] =>
[_DB_DataObject_version] => 1.8.4
[__table] => civicrm_email
[N] => 1
[_database_dsn] =>
[_database_dsn_md5] => 3a14c94fa8a939ffab43eb70f8e15f5f
[_database] => doug_civicrm16
[_DB_resultid] => 39
[_resultFields] =>
[_link_loaded] =>
[_join] =>
[_lastError] =>
)

)

[im] => Array
(
)

)

)

[custom_values] => Array
(
)

)

CRM_Core_Error Object
(
[_errors] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[code] => 8000
[params] => Array
(
[0] =>
)

[package] => CRM
[level] => Fatal
[time] => 1167478504.7529
[context] => Array
(
[file] => C:\wamp\data\apache\htdocs\doug5\sites\doug5.civicactions.net\modules\civicrm\CRM\Core\Error.php
[line] => 477
[function] => createError
[class] => CRM_Core_Error
)

[message] => Invalid contact object passed in
)

)

[_errorsByLevel] => Array
(
[Fatal] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[code] => 8000
[params] => Array
(
[0] =>
)

[package] => CRM
[level] => Fatal
[time] => 1167478504.7529
[context] => Array
(
[file] => C:\wamp\data\apache\htdocs\doug5\sites\doug5.civicactions.net\modules\civicrm\CRM\Core\Error.php
[line] => 477
[function] => createError
[class] => CRM_Core_Error
)

[message] => Invalid contact object passed in
)

)

)

[_package] => CRM
[_compat] =>
[_msgCallback] => Array
(
[0] => CRM_Core_Error Object
RECURSION
[1] => getErrorMessage
)

[_contextCallback] => Array
(
[0] => CRM_Core_Error Object
RECURSION
[1] => getFileLine
)

[_errorCallback] => Array
(
)

[_logger] => Log_display Object
(
[_error_prepend] =>
[_error_append] =>
[_linebreak] => <br />

[_opened] =>
[_id] => 2f4edadb416c6d0f29135ef4aeae19e5
[_ident] =>
[_priority] => 6
[_mask] => 255
[_listeners] => Array
(
)

[_formatMap] => Array
(
[%

{timestamp}

] => %1$s
[%

{ident}

] => %2$s
[%

{priority}

] => %3$s
[%

{message}

] => %4$s
[%

{file}

] => %5$s
[%

{line}

] => %6$s
[%

{function}

] => %7$s
[%\{] => %%{
)

)

[_errorMsgs] => Array
(
)

)