Awesome update!!!! #JusticeForTheresa
http://www.candgnews.com/news/dekeyzer-case-now-hands-prosecutors-78027#
Warren
October 9, 2014
DeKeyzer case now in hands of prosecutors
By Brian Louwers
C & G Staff Writer
WARREN — Warren detectives have given the results of their investigation into the death of 22-year-old Theresa DeKeyzer to Macomb County prosecutors for review, as the man labeled a suspect in the case remained jailed at press time on an unrelated charge in Midland.
An ongoing police investigation and an analysis of materials found with DeKeyzer’s body will likely determine if that man will in fact be charged in her death and disappearance, and what the exact charges will be.
“We’re still gathering more facts,” Warren Police Detective Sgt. Stephen Mills said Oct. 7. “We have enough at this time to support our case.”
DeKeyzer’s body was found inside of a plastic barrel in a trailer parked on a storage lot in Plymouth Township on Sept. 18, almost three months after family members reported her missing. The 37-old Westland man now identified as a suspect in her disappearance, reportedly told police he dropped her off near Van Dyke and Nine Mile Road on the morning of June 16, a day after police were called to a home on Lozier to investigate an alleged domestic assault involving the suspect and DeKeyzer, who was identified as the assault victim.
Police said the suspect was gone when patrol officers arrived on Lozier but that a search of DeKeyzer’s cellphone records later revealed that the man was the last person she called on June 15.
Investigators and family members searched for DeKeyzer in the weeks after she was reported missing, seeking tips through the press, printed posters, social media and Crime Stoppers of Michigan, which offered an award for information about her whereabouts.
Detectives interviewed the suspect in Warren on June 23 and again in Westland on July 2, after they obtained a warrant to search his residence. He was later arrested and jailed in Midland County on a charge unrelated to DeKeyzer’s disappearance and remained in custody at press time.
Warren Police Commissioner Jere Green said previously that two separate tips came in after a newspaper story about DeKeyzer’s disappearance ran in early September. Both tips, Green said, eventually led investigators to the storage yard in Plymouth Township where the trailer containing the barrel with DeKeyzer’s body was found.
Mills said space for the trailer on the lot was rented to a third-party who claimed he was paid by the suspect initially. The suspect’s name and phone number were also reportedly listed as alternate contact information on the rental agreement.
Police said the trailer was still registered to a long-time friend of the suspect, who allegedly told investigators they were in a band together previously and that he had given the trailer to him.
Inside of the trailer, the blue plastic 55-gallon drum containing DeKeyzer’s remains was reportedly found filled with sand and capped with concrete, covered with clear plastic and sealed with black tape. The drum was reportedly secured to the inside of the trailer with straps and ratcheting tie-downs.
Mills said some of the materials used to package the body were sent to the Michigan State Police Crime Lab for forensic analysis.
Detectives also conducted more interviews and searches at locations in Garden City, Westland and Plymouth Township in the days after DeKeyzer’s body was found.
Barrels and tape similar to what was used to conceal the remains were reportedly found during a later search at the suspect’s home. Mills said the barrels were similar to those available at an auto repair shop in Garden City, where the suspect worked as a mechanic.
The man, whose name is being withheld pending an authorization of charges in the case, reportedly hired an attorney after the body was found and declined to be interviewed again by Warren detectives. Police were, however, reportedly granted the authority to take a DNA sample from the man, to be used as a comparison if DNA evidence is obtained from materials found with DeKeyzer’s remains.
Prosecutors in Wayne and Macomb counties have reportedly agreed that any criminal charges would be filed in Macomb County.
“We have the strongest investigation,” Mills said.