GUILTY MI - April Millsap, 14, Armada, 24 July 2014 #1

[BetteDavisEyes]

Map and information about Macomb Orchard Trail: http://www.macombcountymi.gov/MACOMBORCHARDTRAIL/map.htm

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Is there a lake in the area? Is that why she was in a draingage ditch?

Small town of 2000 people, hoping someone knows something.

There are some photos at this link that show sloping areas along the trail. The bottom of a sloping area would be a drainage ditch for rain, melting snow, etc. I haven't visited Armada for several years (apple picking), but the area has gentle hills with low spots where there would be natural drainage.

http://trailsmichigan.com/trailpage.php?nr=29_Macomb-Orchard-Trail

 

[colette]

April's grandfather thinks April knew her killer. Her boyfriend says she sent him a text just before she was murdered.

The other disturbing clue is that when April went to walk her dog "Penny," she sent a text message to her boyfriend, saying 'I think I'm about to be abducted.'

"Yes, and sometimes kids can be silly," Levans said. "He might have thought of it as being a prank or something. Why wouldn't he have called the police right away?"

Levans says after April sent that text, her mom and her boyfriend were out in their cars looking for her.



http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...thinks-killer-must-have-known-victim/27161382

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.freep.com/article/20140726/NEWS04/307260117/Armada-teen-killed

Detectives also are seeking information on a blue and white “small cc motorcycle” ridden by a younger male wearing a black helmet they learned about through tips.

 

[Guinevere]

April's grandfather thinks April knew her killer. Her boyfriend says she sent him a text just before she was murdered.

The other disturbing clue is that when April went to walk her dog "Penny," she sent a text message to her boyfriend, saying 'I think I'm about to be abducted.'

"Yes, and sometimes kids can be silly," Levans said. "He might have thought of it as being a prank or something. Why wouldn't he have called the police right away?"

Levans says after April sent that text, her mom and her boyfriend were out in their cars looking for her.



http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...thinks-killer-must-have-known-victim/27161382

BBM I also think she may have know the person that did this to her. The text message is creepy too. I wonder if there is more detail to the text than reported? Certainly would help. She knew something was going t happen......


~

 

[Guinevere]

http://www.freep.com/article/20140726/NEWS04/307260117/Armada-teen-killed
"Detectives also are seeking information on a blue and white “small cc motorcycle” ridden by a younger male wearing a black helmet they learned about through tips."

Generally those small motor cycles have titles and are registered with the Sec of State. There is a chance this one may be. They may get some lead through there on the Bike and Rider. The fact that Armada is fairly small should make that task easier than somewhere larger.

~

 

[colette]

April's family say she may have been beaten. “It sounds like physical abuse because my daughter (April’s mother) said her face was bruised pretty badly. We feel it was someone she knew,” Dennis Levans said in a brief telephone interview from Coconut Creek, Fla., where he resides with his wife, Jackie.
They held a candle light vigil in honor of April today.

This article has the text that April supposedly sent:

Her boyfriend received a text about an hour later that stated “Omg. Wtf. I think I’m being kidnapped.” Jennifer Millsap immediately went out looking for her daughter, Shanta said.

“I’ve heard you can manipulate those messages, so we’re not sure how much credibility it has,” Levans said.


Polygraphs have been given to a number of April’s friends and relatives as a routine investigative technique.

That includes April’s boyfriend, Dave Albertson. His father, Austin, said police told him his son passed the test on Saturday.

“He didn’t even stay for the results because he wanted to be (at the vigil),” Austin Albertson said.


http://www.macombdaily.com/general-...een-may-have-been-beaten-to-death-family-says

 

[Lovejac]

April's grandfather thinks April knew her killer. Her boyfriend says she sent him a text just before she was murdered.

The other disturbing clue is that when April went to walk her dog "Penny," she sent a text message to her boyfriend, saying 'I think I'm about to be abducted.'

"Yes, and sometimes kids can be silly," Levans said. "He might have thought of it as being a prank or something. Why wouldn't he have called the police right away?"

Levans says after April sent that text, her mom and her boyfriend were out in their cars looking for her.



http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...thinks-killer-must-have-known-victim/27161382

That text tells me something was making her uncomfortable. If she knew the person that was making her nervous wouldn;t she have texted that?

I read an article that says someone saw a white or gray van driving down the path. I wonder if that's what made her nervous.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

That text tells me something was making her uncomfortable. If she knew the person that was making her nervous wouldn;t she have texted that?

I read an article that says someone saw a white or gray van driving down the path. I wonder if that's what made her nervous.

The report of the white or gray van driving on the path comes from a woman who saw the vehicle and recalled the license plate # because she knew that it was odd for a van to be on the trail. I hope this is a good lead.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

July 26, 2014 at 8:31 pm

Slain Armada teen remembered for her love of God, friends

Lauren Abdel-Razzaq/The Detroit News

Armada— Shortly before 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the mourners came. They took up their candles and combined their voices in prayer, asking God to take care of the sweet, sunny-smiled teen who went for a walk with her dog on a local trail this week and never made it home.

April Millsap, 14, was found in a drainage ditch about 20 feet from the Macomb Orchard Trail on Thursday evening. Her border collie led joggers to her body.

It’s the first homicide in seven years for the village of 1,730 and it has shocked the community to the core.

“This is something we cannot fathom,” Joe Sturza, April’s youth minister told a crowd of about 300 gathered outside St. Mary’s Mystical Rose church to remember the teen...

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140726/METRO03/307260050#ixzz38fQslXrT

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Prayer service held for 14-year-old April Millsap in Armada

Body of 14-year-old April Millsap was found in wooded area of Armada

Author: Priya Mann, Local 4 Reporter, @Local4Priya

Published On: Jul 26 2014 11:00:00 PM EDT Updated On: Jul 27 2014 02:48:45 AM EDT

ARMADA, Mich. -
The small community of Armada came together Saturday in prayer as the killer of a promising 14-year-old girl remains on the loose.

It's now been more than two days since 14-year-old April Millsap's body was found along a trail in the small town of Armada.

The tight-knit community has been left stunned. Neighbors said things like this just don't happen here...

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...or-14yearold-april-millsap-in-armada/27166102

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Community Stays Strong As Mourning Begins In Armada

July 26, 2014 6:11 PM

ARMADA (WWJ) – Pink carnations and signatures on a poster were just a few of the ways the community of Armada mourned the loss of 14-year-old April Millsap on Saturday, who was known as a true friend with a bright future.

Through lots of sniffles and hugs, friends, family and classmates met with grief counselors to mourn the loss of Millsap, who was found murdered on Thursday. Her body was found in a drain ditch on a trail in Armada Township in northern Macomb County.

About two dozen friends, classmates and family members came out to Armada Middle School to take part in the grief counseling.

“I’m going to water and keep it alive as long as I can and then try to preserve it so we can always remember her,” one of Millsap’s classmates Victoria Fair said about the flowers given out...

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/07/26/grief-counselors-on-hand-as-mourning-begins-in-armada/

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Armada teen may have been beaten to death, family says

By Mitch Hotts, The Macomb Daily

Posted: 07/26/14, 10:12 PM EDT | Updated: 41 secs ago

As police continued to work around-the-clock to track down the killer of 14-year-old April Dawn Millsap on Saturday, friends and relatives gathered in Armada for a candlelight vigil in her honor.

Meanwhile, new details about April’s final moments emerged from interviews with relatives and friends of the family, including the possibility the 14-year-old Armada Middle High School student may have been beaten to death.

April disappeared Thursday evening as she took her dog for a walk in a wooded area along the Macomb Orchard Trail in Armada. Her body was discovered by two joggers who noticed her border collie, Penny, near the side of a drainage ditch.

Investigators have not disclosed the cause of death other than to say it was a homicide. But family and friends say April was assaulted...

http://www.macombdaily.com/general-...een-may-have-been-beaten-to-death-family-says

 

[ttcRider]

How soon was she found from the time they started looking for her? I can't find times.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

^ I've read/heard that it was approximately three hours from the time that she left her home to walk the dog and when her body was discovered along the Macomb Orchard Trail.

This article doesn't give specific times but indicates that April was found the same evening.

...Armada Police Chief Howard Smith said Millsap had left her house to walk her border collie, but when she didn't return about an hour later, her parents called police.

Smith said Millsap's dog stayed with her body until two people who were walking the trail noticed it...

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/womans-body-found-on-edge-of-village-of-armada/27141128

 

[Marg from Oz]

Unless she put up a fight and was belted I feel it is someone she was having problems with. I hope her school mates can gove some information on if she had any enemies. JMO

 

[Lovejac]

^ I've read/heard that it was approximately three hours from the time that she left her home to walk the dog and when her body was discovered along the Macomb Orchard Trail.

This article doesn't give specific times but indicates that April was found the same evening.

...Armada Police Chief Howard Smith said Millsap had left her house to walk her border collie, but when she didn't return about an hour later, her parents called police.

Smith said Millsap's dog stayed with her body until two people who were walking the trail noticed it...

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/womans-body-found-on-edge-of-village-of-armada/27141128

Sweet pup. if not for the dog, she might not have been found as quickly as she was.

Didn't I read that both her mom and boyfriend received a text from her about feeling she was about to be kidnapped? And they both went looking for her after that?

 

[colette]

How soon was she found from the time they started looking for her? I can't find times.

The boyfriend said when he got that text, the family had started looking. She left at 5 and usually took 1/2 hour, so the family figured something was wrong. From the way it sounds when the boyfriend shared the text with her family ,they were already looking. She was found at 8 PM that evening by other walkers.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Sweet pup. if not for the dog, she might not have been found as quickly as she was.

Didn't I read that both her mom and boyfriend received a text from her about feeling she was about to be kidnapped? And they both went looking for her after that?

...Debbie Shanta of Indiana, a close friend of Jennifer Millsap, said April left the house about 6 p.m. to walk the dog.

Her boyfriend received a text about an hour later that stated “Omg. Wtf. I think I’m being kidnapped.” Jennifer Millsap immediately went out looking for her daughter, Shanta said...

http://www.macombdaily.com/general-...een-may-have-been-beaten-to-death-family-says

 

[Athena12]

I'm wondering how many other people were on or near the trail at the time she went missing. Unless the trail is very secluded, I would think there would be other people walking or jogging, taking their dogs for walks, etc. at that time of the evening. It seems odd that no one saw or heard the attack.