The autopsy of April Millsap revealed she was killed with blunt force trauma – her neck compressed so violently it caused asphyxiation, Fox 2 reported. From the time the suspect started the assault, Millsap was dead just minutes later.
http://www.voicenews.com/articles/2014/08/09/armada_times/doc53e4d16a32d9e459201498.txt
interesting comment from a local under the above linked story about having personally called in complaints in the past about the use motorized vehicles on the trail in the very area April was found. comment was made about 4 hrs ago by a poster whose username starts with R and is the name of a town in MI.
That comment was me the other day. I saw this thread earlier and registered here so I could respond.
The sheriff in his quote seemed to make it sound as though they would see this case to the end but afterwards it would be business as usual. That's why I mentioned the complaint I called in. It was well over a year ago and the only time I've ever felt I needed to but yes I called. They were friendly with me I guess, but it was made clear they likely wouldn’t be sending anyone to check on my complaint. I suppose I might have read too much into the sheriff’s comments the other day but I've taken this whole thing kinda hard especially since I never met April or her family. I was a little PO'd when I read that. Here's why I feel the way I do.
I went through this entire thread but I haven’t seen anyone mention this yet: In 2009 an 87 year old woman was killed in Armada Township (a few miles west of the village) and the killer dumped her body on the north side of the trail about 100 yards west of where the trail crosses Coon Creek Road. She was not killed on the trail but that’s where she ended up. Her family placed a small memorial where her body was found and I see it every time I pass it. Her killer was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. My point is….I’m sure police presence was increased then also, but then it went away. Both of these killers had something in common….They knew they had time to do what they wanted to do because there is no police presence there. I know you can’t stop everything but all I’m saying is that everyone would go 90mph if you knew police weren’t on the roads. I’ve never seen officers out there on patrol (maybe others have?) and I have biked well over 1000 miles on it in recent years. Most of that has been coming from Richmond, turning around at Fulton St in Armada and going back to home. I actually took that exact route today and all I saw the whole trip was an Armada police cruiser near where I turned around in Armada. I have friends who’s property is adjacent to the trail and they complain that there’s plenty of riffraff that goes on out there that no one ever hears about (although usually after dark)
Anyway. Like I said I rode the trail today and it was the 1st time since the murder. The day April was killed I was thinking all day at work about how nice it was outside for a bike ride when I got home. I ate something quick at home so I could leave and got my bike out of the garage. Then I saw my tent sitting there. I was going camping Aug 1-3 and I hadn’t sprayed waterproofing on my tent yet. I quickly checked the coming weekend’s weather (July 26 & 27) on my phone and rain was in the forecast so I set up the tent instead and put my bike back in the garage. Now you see why I took this so hard! I might have been there! Here’s why today’s ride was important to me though: I took for granted just how thick the trees and brush are this time of year where April was found until I went by there today. I don’t believe I would’ve been able to see her or her attacker that night if they were not actually on the pavement and I think I’d feel even worse than I have been if I had gone right by them while she needed help. I guess if anything, I could have been another set of eyes as I went through. If the timeline is correct though, I probably would’ve been right there the same time as the joggers who found her -- which btw that dog truly is a hero. Seriously, 15-20 feet doesn't sound like much but it would’ve taken days for them to find her had it not been for Penny getting their attention.
Sorry for the novel but I feel so bad for that poor girl. :-(
:wagon: RichmondM19. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge of the trail as a user. You must let go of any guilt. That tent may have caught your eye because you simply were not meant to be on the trail at that time. Shoulda Coulda Wouldas will mess with your head but you must not allow it.
There has not been much news recently and I hope that April's murder will be solved and not go cold. The community seems a nice one and I hate to see this case go cold.
Hi RichmondM19. Welcome to Websleuths. I'm sorry your community has experienced this horrific crime.
I wanted to offer a quick observation regarding police presence on the trail. Three departments cover the trail: Shelby Twp, City of Richmond, and Macomb County Sheriff's Dept. Obviously Shelby and Richmond cover their jurisdiction and the rest falls to the county. The townships of Armada, Bruce, Ray, and Richmond don't pay tax dollars to cover police patrol, and have rejected millage increases to cover the cost of contracting the Macomb County Sheriff's Dept. As a result they receive minimal protection from the sheriff's staff. There is one patrol car per shift to cover the four townships which is roughly 140 square miles according to the Macomb Daily. The townships with more patrols, (Washington, Macomb, Harrison etc.) have a voter approved millage that covers the additional cost. Sadly, I don't see matters improving any time soon; Macomb Sheriff's budget has decreased by over 2 million dollars within the last couple of years while expenses have increased.
17 year old male Gabriel Gaeta sexually assualted and murdered 6 year old Jenise Wright, WA.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-beat-six-year-old-death-attending-vigil.html
COD: Blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation. Body dumped in marshy bog / wooded area.
Seems unlikely to be related to this case, but similar, and could be ruled out with a quick look. Hard to know if AM was sexually assaulted or not, LE has contradicted itself a lot of times to the public so far on various details.
Last night on WDIV 11:00 News April's boyfriend (AA) mentioned he thought April wrote the text, he texted right back and called but she didn't answer. April texted "I think I almost got kidnapped!OMFG". Sounds like she didn't recognize him. And she thought she got away from him but didn't. And she thought she was going to be kidnapped, not murdered. I wonder if Penny knew him but April didn't. April's mom said she didn't think it was anyone April knew. It's just so awful.