GUILTY MI - Amber Griffin, 27, last seen by boyfriend, Battle Creek, 22 Jun 2020 *arrest*

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BATTLE CREEK, MI -- A man accused of murder after his Battle Creek area girlfriend went missing in June 2020 has agreed to help police find her body, police said.

In a Wednesday, March 2 statement, Battle Creek police said Derek Depree Horton had agreed to take police to Amber Griffin’s body under a “conditional plea agreement.”

Battle Creek murder suspect agrees to help investigators find body of missing woman, police say

Oh wow! Thanks @GuyfromCanada for this update!
 
Derek Horton murder trial: Neighbors describe last time they saw Amber Griffin

March 02, 2022
Multiple witnesses testified that a 27-year-old Calhoun County woman looked scared for her life around her boyfriend days before her 2020 disappearance.

Despite months of searching, her body was never found, and Battle Creek Police classified her as presumed dead on Feb. 9, 2021.

During opening statements Calhoun County Prosecutor David Gilbert said the combination of cell phone, DNA evidence pointed to Derek Horton as Amber Griffin killer.

Gilbert said he planned to call 32 more witnesses in the trial he said could stretch until next week. Griffin's mother, Carman, is scheduled to testify Wednesday.
 
Battle Creek police renew search body of missing woman | wzzm13.com

March 02, 2022
Police in Battle Creek have renewed hope of finding the location of a missing woman's remains after a suspect in the case agreed to a plea deal.

On Wednesday, the Battle Creek Police Department began searching again for the remains of Amber Griffin.

He agreed to take police to her body under a conditional plea agreement. That means there will be no deal in court if searchers can't find her remains.

At the time of this report, police have not located Griffin.
 
https://www.woodtv.com/news/calhoun-county/derek-horton-pleads-in-murder-of-amber-griffin/

March 02, 2022
Police at Waubascon Drive amid a search for Amber Griffin’s body
on March 1, 2022.
The search was on Waubascon Drive off Limit Street at a location previously linked to the case.

As of around 6 p.m., the body had not been found, police on scene said, but they were hopeful. If the search yielded nothing Wednesday night, crews would be back at it Thursday morning, police said.
 

Oh how sad; may there be a sense of closure for family.


On Wednesday, her accused killer, Derek Horton, took police to the area of Waubascon Road and Limit Street where he reportedly buried her.

He had been charged with open murder in her death.

Then on Thursday, Battle Creek Police announced searchers found human remains that are believed to be Amber Griffin, though further testing is needed to confirm the news.

Investigators used cadaver dogs and excavators during the search.
 
Battle Creek investigators say human remains "likely" to be Amber Griffin's body

Battle Creek Police confirmed Thursday they found the remains likely to be those of Amber Griffin.


Police had Waubascon Road, between Limit and Hubbard Streets, in Battle Creek blocked off Thursday for the search.

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To Note:
The house on Oneita Street was where Griffin was last seen alive. It was owned by the same person who owned the abandoned property on Waubascon Road.

Griffin and Horton were at the Oneita St. home for a house party, police said.

Griffin's blood was found on all three levels of the home on Oneita Street.
 
Bones found in Battle Creek search for murdered woman | WOODTV.com

Horton directed officers to a property on Waubascon Road off Limit Street. Battle Creek Police Department Lt. Joel Case said Horton pointed out three areas to search.

“There were a few things that had changed since the last time that he saw it,” Case noted.


On Thursday, after peeling away about 3 feet of earth at the third spot, crews found human remains.

“It was a pretty significant depth,” Case said Thursday afternoon, adding that crews were still working on the site. “The surface of the ground, you couldn’t tell anything apart. You would think that you could go up and identify an area relatively easy, but that was not the case at all. Mainly with the leaves and stuff that were on top of the ground, you couldn’t just look at a spot and determine that was an area that could be searched.
 

Unearthed remains are that of missing woman Amber Griffin, Battle Creek police say

Battle Creek police on Friday, March 4 said a medical examiner was able to confirm the remains, recovered after homicide suspect Derek Horton told them where to look, are that of Griffin, 27.

Police said a medical examiner was able to use Griffin’s medical records and evidence of old injuries and medical procedures to make the identification.
 
Human bones found in Battle Creek positively identified as Amber Griffin

Battle Creek Police Lt. Joel Case said investigators dug up Griffin's remains under a three-foot grave on a vacant parcel, next to a vacant home on 157 Waubascon Rd. around 1:45 p.m Thursday.

Detectives said Charles Walker III, owns the Waubascon Road home and the former Oneita Street home where Griffin was last seen alive.

Walker was on the witness list to testify in the murder trial for Derek Horton, which was put on hold following the plea deal. Walker couldn't be reached for comment Friday.
 
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WXMI) — The Battle Creek man charged with killing his girlfriend and hiding her body in a wooded area has been sentenced.

Derek Horton, 27, led investigators to the body of Amber Griffin back in March as part of a plea agreement. On Monday, May 9, he was sentenced to prison for 15 to 30 years.

As part of the agreement, he pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and the open murder charge was dropped.

 

Derek Horton, 27, of Battle Creek was sentenced May 9 to 15 to 30 years in prison for one count of second-degree murder in Calhoun County Circuit Court.

Horton accepted a plea agreement during his trial. He entered the plea of no contest March 2, with the agreement that he would take police to Griffin’s remains.
 

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