Found Deceased MI - Armani Kelly - Montoya Givens - Dante Wicker - Missing After Cancelled Performance @ Lounge 31 - Detroit

[saj1117]

"Three aspiring rappers who met in prison have been missing for 10 days after a Detroit gig suddenly was canceled because of an equipment problem, police said.

“We just have a whole lot of unanswered questions that we’re trying to find the answer to,” Cmdr. Michael McGinnis said Monday. “The fact that the three of them are missing together is very concerning and very alarming for us.”

The men, who live in Michigan, were identified as Armani Kelly, Montoya Givens and Dante Wicker.

They were scheduled to perform at a party at Lounge 31 in Detroit on Jan. 21, but the appearance was canceled.


Kelly’s fiancée said phone calls, text messages and social media contacts have not been answered since that night."

Weird!

3 rappers have been missing for 10 days since their scheduled performance was canceled, Detroit police say | CNN.

3 rappers missing for days since Detroit gig was scratched

 

[LadyL]

disturbing

 

[citizen_sleuth]

"Three aspiring rappers who met in prison have been missing for 10 days after a Detroit gig suddenly was canceled because of an equipment problem, police said.

“We just have a whole lot of unanswered questions that we’re trying to find the answer to,” Cmdr. Michael McGinnis said Monday. “The fact that the three of them are missing together is very concerning and very alarming for us.”

The men, who live in Michigan, were identified as Armani Kelly, Montoya Givens and Dante Wicker.

They were scheduled to perform at a party at Lounge 31 in Detroit on Jan. 21, but the appearance was canceled.


Kelly’s fiancée said phone calls, text messages and social media contacts have not been answered since that night."

Weird!

3 rappers have been missing for 10 days since their scheduled performance was canceled, Detroit police say | CNN.

3 rappers missing for days since Detroit gig was scratched

Interesting that all three men met each other in prison and then all three were invited to perform in Detroit. From what I can tell, it seems they weren't in a group and were performing individually –– how did all three of them end up getting a gig at the same place on the same night? Did one of them get a gig and then invited the others to perform? Or were all three invited?

Did they make any other friends (or enemies) during their time in prison who might want to harm them?

 

[Dre]

Interesting that all three men met each other in prison and then all three were invited to perform in Detroit. From what I can tell, it seems they weren't in a group and were performing individually –– how did all three of them end up getting a gig at the same place on the same night? Did one of them get a gig and then invited the others to perform? Or were all three invited?

Did they make any other friends (or enemies) during their time in prison who might want to harm them?

I’m wondering if the performance was made up to lure them into town? Wherever they went instead of the club was a setup?
Moo

 

[Cryptic]

"Three aspiring rappers who met in prison have been missing for 10 days after a Detroit gig suddenly was canceled because of an equipment problem, police said.

I think that needs to be run down with far more details.

What kind of equipment problems would not be able to remedied or improvised around to the extent that there would need to be a cancellation?

I imagine that amateur musicians may routinely deal with personality disputes with venue owners, erratic ticket sales, sudden drops in favor of a locally bigger name in music genre "G", issues with payment arrangements etc.

Hoping the police investigate whether any of these possibilities occurred between the trio, the venue owner, or the event host ( owner and event host, may, or may not be the same person).

 

[GuyfromCanada]

JAN 31

The day the three friends went missing, Kelly drove from Oscoda, Michigan, nearly 200 miles north of Detroit to pick up his friends Wicker and Givens, who live within the metro Detroit area. They were going to Lounge 31 in Detroit, the venue for their planned performance. Kemp told WWJ her son called her once the group arrived in Detroit.

Kelly’s fiancée, Taylor Perrin, told the Detroit News, “the gig was canceled over an equipment issue.”

Detroit Police Commander Michael McGinnis told WJBK, “a family member of one of the men believes they made it to the club before they disappeared,” although police later clarified the timeline.

“At this point, there’s nothing to suggest they did,” make it to the venue McGinnis said to The Detroit News.

‘I Don’t Want to be on Dateline’: Mystery Behind Three Michigan Men Disappearing Before a Rap Performance Baffles Family, Cops After Car Found 'Muddy, Without a License Plate

An ongoing search for three Michigan aspiring rappers who went missing just before they were scheduled to perform has left the men's loved ones little

atlantablackstar.com

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

did their equipment fail, thus causing the cancellation, leading to someone to be out a lot of expected revenue... and angry enough as a result?...

conversely, did someone else's equipment fail that they planned to use, leading them to be very upset?

(car being found in the condition it was leads me to foul play scenarios)

 

[MrsWatson]

This whole thing is starting to sound like a set-up of some kind. Were they stepping on someone's toes taking a gig there? It wouldn't be the first time rap-related feuds led to foul play in the D.

So many questions about this cancelled gig, the venue, and who arranged it. Who was paying? What were the payment arrangements?

MOO

 

[GraceG]

Armani is currently listed as an "absconder from parole". That could be because he's voluntarily missing and it could also be because he's involuntarily missing and in either case is not in contact with his parole officer. From the State's official corrections website. Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS) - Offender Profile FYI - Absconder from parole is NOT the same as an absconder from probation. A person on parole has been conditionally released from prison; a person on probation has been given probation as a sentence (which may also include jail time). When either a parolee or a probationer disappears and stops reporting to the court or his parole or probation officers, he's considered an absconder.

 

[Cryptic]

did their equipment fail, thus causing the cancellation, leading to someone to be out a lot of expected revenue... and angry enough as a result?... conversely, did someone else's equipment fail that they planned to use, leading them to be very upset?

The venue is located in a strip mall (possibly two locations merged together. This is not exactly Madison Square Gardens in size and complexity.

Please note, I do not mean to detract from missing performers. Rather, the size of the venue is being presented to emphasize that the "equipment issue" claims seems more than a little off.

In the end, I very much doubt that there would be an equipment issue stemming for any source that could not be borrowed, rented, re- purchased or improvised around.

Though the stated reason of "equipment issues" for the cancellation may just be a means to let them down gently that the venue or host had changed their mind at the last minute for somebody better or "better", it could also be a cover for a potentially more serious dispute.

 

[Cryptic]

So many questions about this cancelled gig, the venue, and who arranged it. Who was paying?

Judging by the venue size, I dont think the venue owner would likely have been paying the band. The venue seems similar to the quincanera venues that my family has attended over the years.

The host rents the venue for the night. The venue owner then provides security (quincaneras tend to be very family friendly, but private security still shows up periodically to ensure that the celebration stays that way).

The host then brings in their own entertainment, decorations, food arrangements etc. These arrangements range from basic to the relatively elaborate. I imagine some venue owners may have a list of recommended vendors for these things. The host, however, is still the arranger.

This standard format, however, would not eliminate the possibility of the venue owner hosting a for profit private party at his or her own venue. The owner would then bring in the band etc.

 

[Unsolved]

Marley Whoop | Facebook

Check the January 19 post (video). Anything stand out to you? I was trying to follow and feel like it was important but am lost.

 

[Limecat]

Shouldn’t it be relatively easy to at least determine if they made it to the venue? When did they find out it was cancelled? Did they get to the venue to be told no show? Or did they get there and no one was there (bc it was cancelled)? There has to be a way to know who was at the venue and if these three gentlemen showed up and left. Maybe not - not dissing LE in any way at all. Just seems crazy we don’t even know that much. All MOO

 

[modesty blaise]

Check the January 19 post (video). Anything stand out to you? I was trying to follow and feel like it was important but am lost.

He is telling his opps (haters) to wait until he is famous to do what they do because it will make both of them famous. Lots of gang activity in the rap game.

 

[katydid23]

He is telling his opps (haters) to wait until he is famous to do what they do because it will make both of them famous. Lots of gang activity in the rap game.

This^^^ is what is so curious about the disappearance of the 3 rappers. They met in prison and Armani is very vocal about his gang life on his FB.

It feels to me like this whole birthday party gig was a set up, just to lure these 3 men to the same place, at the same time. But if so, I'd have expected they would be attacked in a drive-by, because that is a very public statement. That seems to be how gangs do it---they leave the bodies out in plain sight as a way to say 'WE WON.'

So it surprises me that they were possibly taken. The car was ditched but no one was left there. WHY? I don't get it.

 

[Yesiamapirate]

This area of Detroit is not so great. Lots of empty overgrown fields and abandoned homes. I grew up just a couple of blocks from here. My guess is they will be found in one of them.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Some background about the criminal cases (the links are for the Michigan DOC database and include information about tattoos and aliases):

Amani Nicholas Kelly (aka Armani Nicholas Kelly)
Currently listed as an absconder from parole as of January 24, 2023. He was convicted of armed robbery and began serving his sentence on April 1, 2015 for an incident which occurred in Ingham County on July 6, 2014. He was sentenced to serve a minimum of 8 years and a maximum of 25 years. He was previously convicted of three counts of resisting/obstructing a police officer and one count of larceny from a motor vehicle in April 2015.

Montoya Demario Givens (aka Kevin Williams, Christopher Joseph Moorehead, Montoya Gibbons, Montoya Demarcio Javan Givens, Philip Givens, Philip James Givens)
Currently listed as a parolee out of the Wayne/Detroit Metro district. He was paroled in March 2022. In November 2012, he was sentenced to serve 5-15 years on an unarmed robbery charge and 6-20 years on conspiracy to commit car jacking in Wayne County. In February 2014 he was sentenced to serve 1-8 years for larceny of a building in Oakland County and was discharged from parole in January 2022. In September 2009 he was convicted on two counts of domestic violence out of Wayne County and received 1 year on the first count and 1 year, 5 months on the second count. He was discharged from parole on the domestic violence charges "without improvement." He also received a 2 year sentence for larceny of a building out of Oakland County in March 2012 and subsequently violated his probation. In December 2011 he was sentenced to 2 years on a charge of attempt to receive or conceal stolen property (motor vehicle) in Wayne County.

I couldn't find Dante Wicker in the Michigan DOC database.

 

[ellabella]

Check the January 19 post (video). Anything stand out to you? I was trying to follow and feel like it was important but am lost.

Unfortunately I believe that this video entirely explains their disappearance, and possible death. In the video where he is alone he is naming aliases, and real names of various gang affiliated individuals, and was told in that video he "violated". IMO, he was targeted because he was a liability, and the others were just with him.

 

[tarabull]

Do you think he purposely posted the previously LIVE video to provide the answer to the question
>>>"Where you at Marley??"

ETA: I do! DEFINITELY!! Just by the way he begins it by calling out everything he's been hearing / he has seen...he knows what's up...& bringing them boys into view on screen was intentional IMHO.

 

[tarabull]

They metioned podcasts...

https://www.youtube.com/@marleywhoop/videos