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Post by LadyBlue on Sept 21, 2016 15:29:17 GMT -5
Questions about what happened to a gas station clerk who vanished from her job in western Michigan have loomed since Jessica Heeringa’s mysterious disappearance more than three years ago. Some answers came Tuesday when prosecutors announced charges against Jeffrey Willis. Hours later, he appeared in a Muskegon courtroom, accused of kidnapping and murdering the 25-year-old mother. Her body has never been found. “In my opinion, we found Jessica’s killer,” Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson said at a news conference announcing the charges. Willis’ cousin, Kevin Bluhm, who has admitted he lied to investigators in the case, was charged with accessory after the fact to a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Attorneys representing Willis, 46, and Bluhm, 47, declined to comment on the case. Hilson said it appears Heeringa died 24-48 hours after her abduction from the Exxon Mobil gas station on East Sternberg Road in Norton Shores on April 26, 2013. He declined to say what evidence investigators have tying Willis to Heeringa. “This individual, Mr. Willis, is a monster,” Hilson said. “What his total motivation was, that’s only for him to say. And ultimately, I think, this was part of who he was as a person.” Before Tuesday’s announcement, Willis was already facing charges in connection with two cases: a jogger killed in 2014 and a teenager abducted in April. Those cases are pending. Hilson said he and investigators met with Heeringa’s family Tuesday morning. Her relatives don’t want to talk to the news media right now, he said. Earlier this year, officials said they were investigating potential links between Willis and the disappearance of Heeringa, and Norton Shores police called him a person of interest in her case. www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/09/21/charges-issued-jessica-heeringa-investigation/90754150/ |
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Post by LadyBlue on Sept 21, 2016 16:09:56 GMT -5
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Post by LadyBlue on Sept 21, 2016 16:41:57 GMT -5
Cousin of Jeffrey Willis: 'It doesn't look good'MUSKEGON COUNTY, MICH. - Diane Umlor says she, like many others in Muskegon County, wants to know if Jeffrey Willis kidnapped a 16-year-old girl and murdered Rebekah Bletsch. Umlor is a cousin to Willis. Willis's father is Umlor's uncle. They shared the same grandfather, too. "I hope that he didn't do it.," Ulmor said Thursday morning. Members of the extended Willis family began calling each other shortly after Jeffrey was arrested. Ulmor learned by phone of the arrest, and charges that followed. www.wzzm13.com/news/crime/cousin-of-jeffrey-willis-fears-hes-responsible-for-crimes-hes-charged-with/228392878I'm sorry that some of these pages I'm putting up are not loading properly at this time. There are just so many people that are interested in this breaking news case, the pages are just overloaded with people wanting and waiting for other news.
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Post by LadyBlue on Sept 21, 2016 16:45:49 GMT -5
Official: Jeffrey Willis' friendship with Norton Shores officer no indication of wrongdoingMUSKEGON, MICH. - In the midst of the investigation of accused murderer and kidnapping suspect Jeffrey Willis, officials found he was friends with a Norton Shores police officer. That, however, does not indicate any sort of wrongdoing, said Muskegon County chief assistant prosecutor Timothy Maat said in a news release Wednesday, June 1. The officer, identified as Shawn Stefanich, has been interviewed by investigators to determine any sort of background information that could advance their case against Willis. So, too, have many coworkers and acquaintances of Willis, Maat said. Norton Shores police on Tuesday said social media rumors surrounding Willis and the disappearance of Jessica Heeringa are "untrue." They recently upgraded him to a "person of interest" in the case. "The fact that there was a friendship between Mr. Willis and Officer Stefanich and others in no way indicates wrongdoing by the people that knew Mr. Willis," the statement reads. "Implying any wrongdoing is reckless and irresponsible." www.wzzm13.com/news/local/muskegon/official-accused-murderer-jeffrey-willis-friends-with-norton-shores-officer/226804586
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Post by LadyBlue on Sept 21, 2016 16:49:25 GMT -5
Farmer: Security cameras helped lead to Jeffrey Willis’ arrestFRUITLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Mere weeks after installing surveillance cameras to scare off a harasser, a blueberry farmer says they instead captured footage of suspected kidnapper and murderer Jeffrey Willis driving on the same day a teen girl says she escaped an attempted abduction. Frank Coles, owner of Sodini Blueberries, said Willis' van passed his farm on April 16, before turning around in his driveway. Days later, detectives were at Coles' door, asking to view the footage after spotting the cameras while canvassing the area. “I put them up to protect myself from a bonehead, instead they caught a murderer," Coles told FOX 17. According to Coles, his cameras recorded Willis driving his silver minivan right in front of the farm—driver's window rolled down—giving cops a clear shot of his face. “[The detective] wasn’t looking at it that long; he knew what he was looking for," Coles said. "They got a couple real nice shots of [Willis' face]." Detectives confiscated the video footage as evidence and later returned it with the portion showing Willis missing, according to Coles. Coles said he's unsure whether the cameras captured Willis before or after a 16-year-old girl says she escaped. The teen told police she unlocked the doors and jumped from Willis' van near W. River Road and Green Creek Road; roughly a half mile from Coles' blueberry farm. “You know, you’ve got to give kudos to the detectives," he said. "They are the ones who were diligent and they found the cameras, because we wouldn’t have looked at them. We wouldn’t have thought of it.” Coles said had he not looked at the footage, the system would've automatically recorded over any existing video after about a month. Willis was arrested May 17 for the mid-April abduction attempt. The arrest would later allow the teen to identify Willis out of a photo lineup. Since his arrest, police found evidence to charge Willis with the 2014 murder of Rebekah Bletsch. Police have also named Willis as a person-of-interest in Heeringa’s disappearance after she vanished from a Norton Shores gas station where she worked in April of 2013. fox17online.com/2016/05/31/farmer-security-cameras-helped-lead-to-jeffrey-willis-arrest/
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Post by LadyBlue on Sept 21, 2016 16:52:08 GMT -5
Jeffrey Willis case. The Mystery 55 gallon drum and Closure for a victims familyPolice have asked Jeffrey Willis’s co workers what they know about a 55 gallon drum barrel Willis took from work. His co workers haven’t been much help with that. But Detectives have found that barrel. It was at the abandoned home he owned that once belong to his Grandfather. Willis took possession of that property a year or two before Jessica Heeringa disappeared. Despite this weeks arrest of Jeffrey Willis in the Becky Bletsch murder, her family says is has no closure in their daughters loss. They do say there is no way she would have ever gotten into Willis’s minivan, perhaps prophetically saying she would have fought for her life. One member of the family said, “There’s no closure. Answers yes, And we hope to get more.” Willis’s trial, if the case ever goes to a jury, isn’t likely to begin until next spring. Read more: woodradio.iheart.com/articles/wood-news-125494/jeffrey-willis-case-the-mystery-55-14753400/#ixzz4Kvhsoa1V
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Post by LadyBlue on Sept 21, 2016 16:59:16 GMT -5
Jeffrey Willis' phone records, gun reveal possible link to Jessica Heeringa murderMUSKEGON, MICH. - Jeffrey Willis, 46, faces charges of open murder and kidnapping in connection with the disappearance of 25-year-old Jessica Heeringa. Now, details from the newly released court transcripts help shed some more light on this tragic case. Police found accessory parts of a Walther P22 gun at the Exxon where Heeringa worked. A witness told police that a white male approximately 5' 10" tall was behind the Exxon, with minivan lights off and his tailgate open. When police investigated, Heeringa's wallet had $400 and money in the till, leading them to conclude it was not a robbery. When police interviewed the cousin of Jeffrey Willis, Kevin Bluhm, he said he was asked by Willis to come by his grandfather's vacant home on Bailey Street, because, "there would be women there." Bluhm then told police there was a nude woman, face down in the basement. He also told a detective he helped Willis, "get rid of the body." Bluhm told detectives that Heeringa's body was placed in a hole that was already dug along Sheridan Drive. According to Bluhm, Willis had been following and watching Heeringa for a period of time before her disappearance. Cell phone records place Willis at his grandfather's home after the alleged abduction. www.wzzm13.com/news/local/muskegon/details-in-heeringa-willis-case-emerge-in-new-court-transcripts/323031007
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Post by LadyBlue on Sept 21, 2016 17:03:07 GMT -5
Police tracked accused killer Jeffrey Willis before arresMUSKEGON, MICH. - Search warrants used by police reveal new information about accused killer Jeffrey Willis. Those warrants were unsealed Tuesday, July 12, following a months-long investigation. Among the new information, detectives asked for permission to search Willis' home and van and were looking for items that could have been used in "abductions, homicides, and unsolved cases." Days before his arrest, police secretly began following Willis' van and watching his every move. Willis is charged with killing Rebekah Bletsch in 2014, the failed kidnapping of a 16-year-old girl in April and is a person of interest in the Jessica Heeringa disappearance. On May 11, Willis was seen at the Meijer on Harvey Street. He sat in the parking lot for 15 minutes but never entered the store. He did, however, "very slowly" drive "up and down" several parking lot aisles, the documents say. www.wzzm13.com/news/local/muskegon/police-tracked-accused-killer-jeffrey-willis-by-gps-before-arrest/270795508
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Post by LadyBlue on Sept 21, 2016 17:08:19 GMT -5
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Post by LadyBlue on Sept 21, 2016 17:21:21 GMT -5
May 18, 2016 at 11:06 AM, updated May 18, 2016 Police search second home linked to accused attempted kidnapping suspect Jeffrey Willis MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – Police are searching a second home related to accused attempted kidnapper Jeffrey Willis. A Michigan State Police crime lab is at the scene of the home in 3000 block of Bailey Street south of Summit Avenue in Norton Shores. The abandoned home apparently had belonged to Willis' deceased grandfather who passed away in 2011, and Willis had been seen at the home several times. The current homeowner is listed as Pamela Willis, according to county records. The homeowner in the 1800 block of South Sheridan Drive, where the first search took place, is listed as Jeffrey Willis www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2016/05/police_searching_second_home_l.html
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Post by LadyBlue on Sept 21, 2016 17:24:14 GMT -5
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