Still Missing MI - Heather Kelley, 35, mom of 8, phoned kids said would be home soon, car found, Kalamazoo, 11 Dec 2022 *Reward* *arrest*

[Dargon335]

Per MSM reports these are the general areas typically mentioned concerning Heather's disappearance.
Overview map

The overview map below shows both the Speedway gas station (green circle) and the general area where Heather's vehicle was found (red rectangle).


Per media reports, Heather's last known location was the Speedway gas station, at the corner of M-96 and River Street:
Speedway

Also per MSM reports, Heather's vehicle was later found abandoned in this area on North Sprinkle Road:
North Sprinkle Road

The distance between the Speedway gas station and the area where her car was located is only a few miles.

 

[Unalienable Rights]

Finally!

Suspect charged with murder of missing Portage mother of 8

35-year-old Heather Kelley has been missing since Dec. 10, 2022 and is a mom of eight children.

www.wzzm13.com

PORTAGE, Mich. — Carlos Watts Jr., 38, has been charged with the murder of a Portage mother who went missing in December 2022.

*****
The Kalamazoo County Prosecutor's Office shared additional details about those charges Wednesday morning and disclosed the FBI and other federal investigators have assisted in the case.

Investigators have not recovered Kelley's remains, but feel they have enough probable cause to charge the man she had been in a relationship with.

Continues at link.

 

[Dargon335]

Boyfriend of missing Heather Kelley charged with murder

[...]
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Over one year after Kalamazoo County mother of eight Heather Kelley disappeared, her boyfriend, Carlos Watts Jr., has been charged with murder. If convicted, Watts Jr. could either spend the rest of his life behind bars without parole or could face up to life in prison with the possibility of parole, according to Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting Wednesday.

He is due for federal sentencing Friday.

Watts Jr. has been the main person of interest in the investigation since Kelley first disappeared Dec. 10, 2022. He was reportedly with Kelley before she went missing, and remains in federal custody.
[...]

[...]
Her body has never been found, despite over a year of searching around Kalamazoo County. She was last seen leaving her Kalamazoo County home around 9 p.m., according to police. In a phone call nearly an hour later, she told her kids she would be home shortly – but never returned.

Officers found her burnt car near East Michigan Avenue and North Sprinkle Road. Kelley's blood, hair and other signs of violence were found inside, Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller said.
[...]

 

[Dargon335]

Murder charge filed against suspect in Portage woman’s disappearance

[...]
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A murder charge has been filed against the boyfriend of a Portage mother of eight who vanished in 2022.

“We have reached a point in this investigation where we are going to take the next step. That means criminal charges,” Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said Wednesday morning at a news conference. “We have this morning charged Carlos Vance Watts Jr. with the offense of murder for causing the death of Heather Kelley.”

According to a probable cause affidavit filed Wednesday, one subject told investigators that Watts “admitted to killing Heather by striking her in the head with a blunt object and then disposed of her body in a dumpster.”

Later in the affidavit, investigators wrote that they interviewed “a cooperative witness who knows Carlos.”

“That cooperative witness told investigators that after Heather disappeared, Carlos admitted to the witness that he ‘got rid of the (expletive),’ which to the cooperating witness based on the topic of conversation meant that Carlos killed Heather,” the affidavit reads.

Kelley, 35, was last seen in December 2022. No remains have been found
[...]

[...]
Investigators say that when Kelley disappeared, she was with her boyfriend, Watts. Kelley’s car was later found in Kalamazoo with her blood on the front and back seats. They also found clothing in a field about half a mile away from Kelley’s vehicle, including women’s underwear, women’s jeans, boots and a durag. Tests later determined that the jeans and durag had DNA from Kelley and Watts, court records say.

Court documents show Watts was on federal parole, wearing a tether and finishing a federal sentence at the KPEP halfway house in Kalamazoo for a 2010 cocaine conspiracy that included a murder-for-hire plot. Watts’ tether was inactive for several hours the night Kelley went missing, according to court records. It wasn’t turned back on until the next morning.

Detectives interviewed Watts at KPEP the day after Kelley’s disappearance, according to court filings. The next morning, Watts cut off his tether and escaped through an emergency exit, according to documents filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Watts was arrested days later after a two-hour standoff at a home in Battle Creek. He has since pleaded guilty to a federal charge related to the halfway house and is expected to be sentenced Friday.
[...]

 

[Dargon335]

Documents break down why boyfriend is charged in the murder of missing Portage mom of 8

[...]
Affidavit of Probable Cause documents breaks down the evidence that led to officials charging Watts with her murder.

They say around the time of her disappearance, officials found her car on fire, and inside the car was blood that was tested and matched with her DNA. Officials said they also found evidence that the car was lit on fire to hide evidence, and clothes with her and Watts' DNA were found near the car.

Shortly after the car was found, the documents say Watts admitted to a witness that he “got rid of the *advertiser censored*," which the witness says was based “on the topic of conversation meant that Carlos killed Heather."

It also says that he got rid of her body in a dumpster.

“We have not recovered Heather Kelly's remains at this time. But we are confident that we have sufficient evidence to prove Mr. Watts guilty of her murder and are moving forward with the charges,” said Getting.

Court documents show the two had a rough relationship and that Watts was described as controlling and possessive.
[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 11, 2024

Year-long probe results in murder charges for Heather Kelly's boyfriend

Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Getting announces his office has authorized criminal charges against Heather Kelly’s boyfriend.After over a year and

wwmt.com

[...]

Her burned car was found abandoned along E. Michigan Avenue near Sprinkle Road with disturbing evidence inside: small torches, a screwdriver, Kelley’s blood and the clothes she was last seen wearing were found in a wooded area on Pickard Street.

A du-rag Kelley was wearing the night she was last seen alive was also found. According to court documents, surveillance video showed Watts Jr. with a du-rag of the same color and style on the same day. Kelley’s blood was discovered inside.

[...]

He’s been in federal custody on escape charges since the murder. Watts Jr. is scheduled for sentencing by federal authorities Friday, Jan. 12.

“These charges will allow for an orderly transfer from federal custody to state custody after that sentencing occurs," Prosecuting Attorney Getting said.

An arraignment will then be scheduled, a date has not been selected at this time.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 12, 2024

Man accused for Heather Kelley's death sentenced for escaping KPEP

The man accused for the death of a missing Portage mother has been sentenced for escaping a Kalamazoo halfway house.

www.fox17online.com

[...]

The U.S. Attorney’s Office – Western District of Michigan (DOJ) says 38-year-old Carlos Watts was sentenced to spend 14 months behind bars for escaping the Kalamazoo Probation Enhancement Program (KPEP) shortly after his girlfriend, Heather Kelley, went missing in December 2022.

[...]

“Carlos Watts poses a tremendous threat to our community,” says U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “While finishing his sentence at a halfway house for drug trafficking and possessing a firearm, Mr. Watts cut his tether, fled the facility, and has since been charged with the murder of his former girlfriend. My office will continue working with our law enforcement partners to keep our communities safe and hold criminals accountable.”

[...]

 

[Knox]

Happy to finally see an arrest, I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with the evidence. But it looks like they took advantage of his 14 month sentence to build a solid "no body" case.

Has LE known about Heather's body being placed in a dumpster for a while? Curious if they attempted any landfill searches behind the scenes?

 

[Dargon335]

Its' unclear whether LE conducted landfill searches. I have not seen that reported in MSM but that doesn't mean searches did not take place. All that's been reported is that CW placed her body in a dumpster. The specific location of that dumpster hasn't been mentioned AFAIK. However, logic would suggest LE knows which dumpster he used, which company services that location, and therefore, which landfill to look in.

MOO, but if searches took place only recently then it could be difficult to find her remains in a landfill from over a year ago.

 

[Dargon335]

Man accused for Heather Kelley's death sentenced for escaping KPEP

The man accused for the death of a missing Portage mother has been sentenced for escaping a Kalamazoo halfway house.

www.fox17online.com

[...]
“Carlos Watts poses a tremendous threat to our community,” says U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “While finishing his sentence at a halfway house for drug trafficking and possessing a firearm, Mr. Watts cut his tether, fled the facility, and has since been charged with the murder of his former girlfriend. My office will continue working with our law enforcement partners to keep our communities safe and hold criminals accountable.”
[...]

BBM above.

MOO, but if CW is convicted I hope the harshest possible sentence is given to him.

 

[Knox]

Case can be viewed at link below.

MiCOURT Case Search

micourt.courts.michigan.gov

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 16, 2024

Heather Kelley's boyfriend charged with murder after Michigan mother's 2022 disappearance

Authorities say the suspect used scissors to cut his tether off and flee a halfway house where he was living two days after Heather Kelley disappeared.

www.fox2detroit.com

[...]

Watts was sentenced to 14 months in prison last week for fleeing the halfway house. Once that federal sentence is completed, he will be transferred to state custody to face the murder charge.

 

[MourningDove61992]

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/heather-mae-kelley