Found Deceased MI - Dee Ann Warner, 52, last seen @ home, Tecumseh, 25 Apr 2021 *Reward* *trial to declare legally dead*

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April 16, 2024

Family members of a missing Michigan woman profiled on several true crime shows announce a private funeral and public celebration of life set for Saturday, April 20.

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The family also decided not to put the name Warner on her headstone, as her husband Dale sits behind bars, charged with her murder.

Despite her body not being found, a judge ruled Dee dead in March 2024. On the Justice for Dee Facebook page, her family recently invited Dee’s friends and supporters to attend a celebration of life for her at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Hardy’s Farm’s Event Center at 10101 Wisner Hwy in Tipton. They asked that people RSVP to the event on Facebook.

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“Before opening to the public we will be having a private moment of prayers and blessing her gravestone which will be located next to her mom and dad’s grave at the Tipton Cemetery,” the page read. “Respectfully we ask that this part of the event remains family only. The evening will be filled with many tears but please remember that Dee loved laughter and I know she would want this evening filled with love and plenty of laughter as we celebrate the wonderful woman she was to so many people.”

Instead of flowers, the family asked for a donation to the Catherine Cobb Safe House. At the celebration of life, a donation box will be located near the event center’s staircase to place a donation if attendees wish.

More at link.
 
Michigan District Court 2A has scheduled three days for testimony in the proceeding, the purpose of which is to determine whether the case should be bound over to circuit court. In that regard, the judge will function as would a grand jury, albeit in a public proceeding rather than behind closed doors.

As of 8:35 a.m., the defendant had not yet been brought into the courtroom, where the gallery holds about 50 people
 
ADRIAN, Mich. – The preliminary exam for Dale Warner is expected to last several days as he stands charged with the murder of his wife, Dee Warner.

Her body has never been found. Dee Warner was last seen in April 2021 at her home on Mugner Road in Tipton. On Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, Michigan State Police announced that Warner’s husband had been arrested in connection with her death.

Dale Warner was charged with open murder and tampering with evidence...
 
MAY 2, 2024
[...]

ZB, Dee’s son, was on the stand for most of the proceedings Thursday. He testified about how some businesses, like their farming business, were losing lots of money. He said money had to be transferred from some businesses and it was often difficult to make payroll.

[...]

Dee and her son talked about finances just before she disappeared. Some of the businesses were in just Dee’s name and she was making future plans for them.

“The day before she went missing, she sent me a text message that ‘I’m done with this, I’m signing everything over to you, I’m done with it,” ZB said.

He clarified that Dee was referring to her portion of the businesses. ZB was asked if that meant that he would then be the sole owner of the trucking businesses, and ZB confirmed that would’ve been the case.

[...]
 
Lengthy article. I really had to butcher it to comply with TOS. :(

MAY 3, 2024
[...]

In 2018, Bock said, he and Dee bought a house on Sand Lake. He said his mother wanted it as an investment and as a "safe haven" where she could go when she and Dale got into fights. He said he lived there and she would go there about once a month ...

[...]

Dee and Bock shared a safe where she kept a large quantity of money, he said. He described a situation in October 2019 when he had trouble with the safe's electronic combination lock, and when he opened it with the key he found the money was missing. Later, she told him that Dale took it, though under cross-examination he said he didn't see Dale take it.

[...]

On the morning of April 25, 2021 ...

He went to Dee's home, arriving at about 10:30 or 11 a.m. ...

He then saw Dale as he was walking away from the truck, Bock said.

"You really don't know where your mom is?" Bock recalled Dale saying. Dale then talked about the fight he and Dee had the night before.

He and Dale walked back to the office, Bock said. When they got inside, Dale called out, "Oh, f---. This was on my desk," and showed him Dee's wedding ring in his hand and added the fight had been really bad. He later mentioned that about $100,000 was missing from a safe in the house and described what he had done that morning: ...

[...]

Bock said he started reviewing the office security video to see if he could see Dee come in the office and leave the ring. The only person he saw in going back through the video to the previous day was Rikkell at about 8:30 or 9 a.m. that day. ...

[...]
 
MAY 3, 2024
[...]

... The hope Friday was that the preliminary examination would be completed by the end of the day, but now, more testimony will be heard in June.

The reason for the delay is that neither side is finished with the person expected to be the prosecution’s main witness. The defense actually has not even started.

The witness is the Michigan State Police Detective Sergeant who is heading up much of the investigation. The detective said they did many search warrants on properties, medical records, bank accounts and phones.

In all, investigators took in about 100 Apple devices as they tried to piece together what happened to Dee Warner and where she ended up.

[...]
 
MAY 4, 2024
Body-worn camera video of law enforcement's first contact with Dale Warner highlighted testimony Friday in a hearing to determine whether the murder case against Warner will proceed toward a trial.

The prosecution played the video toward the end of the preliminary examination's third day in Lenawee County District Court. The court adjourned after Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Daniel Drewyor had been on the witness stand for more than an hour. ...

MAY 7, 2024
Frushour is a district judge in Washtenaw County who was appointed to hear the case after Lenawee County's judges disqualified themselves. The case's original judge, Lenawee County District Judge Laura J. Schaedler, removed herself after disclosing past professional and personal contact with the Warners and their families over the years. The county's probate and circuit judges also disqualified themselves, using the standard disqualification form provided by the Michigan State Court Administrative Office and selecting the option that states, "based on objective and reasonable perceptions, my continued assignment would create an appearance of impropriety."

The hearing adjourned Friday afternoon during testimony by the state police's lead investigator, Detective Sgt. Daniel Drewyor. It is scheduled to resume June 6.
 
A celebration of life was held for Dee Ann earlier this spring.

"Our mom was one of a kind and I’m grateful for all the time I had with her," said Rikkel Bock, her daughter, in a post on Facebook
 
JUN 7, 2024
Reviewing testimony given during the four-day hearing, which began May 1, Frushour said the prosecution had met its burden of showing a crime had been committed and that there is probable cause to believe Warner committed it. In particular, she noted the timeline of cellphone data and Dale's statements to police do not line up. Dale's phone was used to unlock Dee Warner's Cadillac Escalade, access the Warners' farm's security cameras and look for Dee's iPhone between 7:14 a.m. and 8:49 a.m. April 25, 2021, Frushour said.

"When Dale was asked about these searches, he told the police he was looking for Dee, but according to his other statements, she wasn't missing yet," she said.

The lead detective in the Dee Warner murder investigation testified Friday for for Dale Warner’s murder charge. When questioned by Dale Warner’s defense attorney, Drewyor said that there was no physical evidence of a murder in regard to Dee Warner. He testified that Dale told him that he believed his wife was with a drug cartel in Jamaica.

Bodycam footage was also played in court, with Dale Warner telling police that Dee often stayed with other family members, so her not being home was not out of the norm.

Detective Drewyor told the court that his investigation had uncovered incidents of of physical violence between Dale and Dee.
 
JUL 18, 2024
[...]

"I have previously disqualified myself from the district court preliminary examination stage of the case," Olsaver said. "I did that in order to avoid even the slightest appearance of any impropriety since at that stage my role would have included making factual findings."

Olsaver also has been assigned to other civil and probate cases involving Dale Warner and reviewed search warrants related to the homicide case, he said.

"At this point in the proceedings, I don't believe that my continued assignment would create any similar issue, since from here forward, a jury would be charged with finding facts," Olsaver said. "As a result, I don't think that I have any knowledge, bias or any other reason that would require my disqualification, and therefore I wouldn't intend to do it at this point" on his own motion.

[...]

The next pretrial hearing date is Sept. 4.
 

ADRIAN, Mich. (WTVG) - Police in Michigan say human remains have been found on the property of a man charged with murder in his wife’s disappearance, but haven’t yet confirmed the identity of the remains.
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The family tells 13 Action News the human remains were found in a sealed tank buried under ground on part of the Warner property.

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More at link. Autopsy will be Tuesday.
 

ADRIAN, Mich. (WTVG) - Police in Michigan say human remains have been found on the property of a man charged with murder in his wife’s disappearance, but haven’t yet confirmed the identity of the remains.
*****
The family tells 13 Action News the human remains were found in a sealed tank buried under ground on part of the Warner property.

*****
More at link. Autopsy will be Tuesday.
So relieved to see this. I hope it is her, for her families sake. This is a couple counties away from me, but every now and then I go to that area for events (they have great coffee shops out there and great antiquing!!). There are “Justice for Dee” signs all over! I’m always surprised it hasn’t been a bigger story in MSM. JMO!!
 
Michigan State Police have found human remains on the property of a Lenawee County man who has been charged in connection with the death of his missing wife.

Dee Ann Warner, a mother of five and grandmother, was last seen in April 2021 at her Munger Road home in Franklin Township, according to Crime Stoppers of Lenawee County. She was 52 at the time of her disappearance.

In November 2023, her husband, Dale Warner, was charged in connection with her death. In June, Dale Warner was bound over in Lenawee County's 2A District Court on two felony charges: open murder and tampering with evidence.

Michigan State Police First District tweeted Sunday morning that detectives in its Special Investigation Section have continued to pursue leads in the case.

"During the execution of a search warrant in Lenawee County on property belonging to Dale Warner human remains were found," state police said on X. "The remains are currently in the process of being recovered and there will be a great deal of work and testing completed before positive identification is made."...

 
Last edited:
AUG 18, 2024

Aug. 16, 2024

Authorities found what they believe to be Dee Warner's remains welded shut inside one of two tanks removed from Dale Warner's property off of Paragon Road in Lenawee County.

An official confirmation through lab testing has yet to identify the remains as belonging to Dee Warner.
An autopsy on the remains is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 20

Michigan State Police state that an investigation into Dee's case still continues.
 

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