Found Deceased MI - Venus Stewart, 32, Colon, 28 April 2010 - #10 *D. Stewart guilty*

[Joe Friday]

Ya I just noticed that.

 

[praying for you]

A private search group searches for Venus twice, sometimes three times a week. However, gun hunting season started Monday and it appears the snow will be falling soon. Don't get me wrong, they WILL continue to search. If any of you live in the vicksburg-fulton area, you will notice new posters going up.

 

[Lurkey Lou]

hoping with the hunters heading into the woods this week something is found.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/11/trial_in_venus_stewart_disappe.html

Trial in Venus Stewart disappearance to proceed after appeals court denies disqualification of St. Joseph County judge

LANSING — The Michigan Court of Appeals has denied a motion filed by the attorneys for Doug Stewart seeking to disqualify the judge from the case.

St. Joseph County Circuit Judge Paul Stutesman had postponed proceedings pending a decision on the appeal.

The trial is now scheduled to begin in January, according to the court of appeals website.

Stewart, 29, is charged with felony murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree premeditated murder in connection with the April 26 abduction and slaying of his estranged wife, Venus Stewart.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Thinking of Venus tonight and her family.

Christmas is coming up and I can not imagine how her daughters will feel without their Mommy or Daddy for Christmas.

I wish we would hear about searches or something! Are they still looking for her? Or, are they just hoping a hunter stumbles upon her body?

Prayers for Venus and all who love her. Esp her daughters and her mother and father.

ETA: praying for you, I hope you are right. I hope they are still looking for her. She needs to be found.

 

[LandAuxvasse]

Thinking of Venus tonight and her family.

Christmas is coming up and I can not imagine how her daughters will feel without their Mommy or Daddy for Christmas.

I wish we would hear about searches or something! Are they still looking for her? Or, are they just hoping a hunter stumbles upon her body?

Prayers for Venus and all who love her. Esp her daughters and her mother and father.

ETA: praying for you, I hope you are right. I hope they are still looking for her. She needs to be found.

raying: AMEN!!

 

[nurselady]

I keep checking everyday hopeful she has been found!!

 

[summer_breeze]

http://www.wlkm.com/?p=17295

December 13, 2010 by WLKM

An aerial search for evidence of Venus Stewart was conducted last Wednesday, but investigators gained no new leads or information about the missing Colon Township woman.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Thanks for the update Summer Breeze. I hope Venus is found soon.

What a nightmare for her family.

 

[praying for you]

Thinking of Venus tonight and her family.

Christmas is coming up and I can not imagine how her daughters will feel without their Mommy or Daddy for Christmas.

I wish we would hear about searches or something! Are they still looking for her? Or, are they just hoping a hunter stumbles upon her body?

Prayers for Venus and all who love her. Esp her daughters and her mother and father.

ETA: praying for you, I hope you are right. I hope they are still looking for her. She needs to be found.

We are and will continue to look for her once the weather breaks. The snow and bitterly cold temperatures have held us up for now.

 

[praying for you]

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/12/grandparents_try_and_keep_upbe.html

Venus Stewart's young daughters miss their mother, try for normal Christmas

“They know their mom is up with the angels. But they don’t understand why she can’t come back.”

 

[Kimberlyd125]

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/12/the_kalamazoo_areas_top_storie.html


The Kalamazoo area's top stories of 2010

Crime also was in the news, including 10 homicides in the city of Kalamazoo — double the number from 2009 — and the disappearance of Schoolcraft native Venus Stewart.

Below are summaries of the top local stories, in no specific order, that captured the community’s attention this year.


Oil spill fouls Kalamazoo River

President Barack Obama speaks at Kalamazoo Central

Calista Springer’s parents convicted of torture

Millions of dollars lost in alleged scams

State Rep. Robert Jones dies before election

I-94/Westnedge Avenue interchange taking shape

Venus Stewart presumed dead; husband charged

Homicides double in city of Kalamazoo

New airport terminal to open in spring

Barn Theatre is back

 

[Kimberlyd125]

I just came across this article from Christmas Eve. Heartbreaking!

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/12/grandparents_try_and_keep_upbe.html

Venus Stewart's young daughters miss their mother, try for normal Christmas

COLON — Six-year-old BS remembers that the special star crowning her grandparents’ Christmas tree once belonged to her mother.

RS, who recently turned 4, has less vivid memories of the Christmas 2009 she celebrated with her sister and parents.

This year, the girls will bake cookies and tear through wrapping paper on Christmas morning without their parents.



Larry McComb says his wife still cries daily when something sparks a vivid memory of Venus, who he describes as Therese’s daughter, “and her best friend.”

“All we can do is try to keep an upbeat spirit for the girls and that’s hard to do,” McComb said. “The holidays hit hard. We really don’t have a special tradition. They’ll bake Christmas cookies and we decorated the tree. We’re just trying to have the girls have a regular, stable life.”



Stewart’s daughters know their father has been charged with murdering their mother, McComb said.

“No matter what they do to Doug, it’s not going to fix it for these girls,” McComb said.


But the girls long for their mother.

“BS is affected the most,” McComb said. “It’s just lately that she will give my wife a kiss. Kisses were for her Mom.

“They know their mom is up with the angels. But they don’t understand why she can’t come back.”

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Ok locals...any word at all on this case????
I think about Venus and her daughters and parents all the time.

ETA: I know they said the trial would start in Jan. Any word about when in Jan.?

 

[Knox]

Kimberlyd125 thank you for keeping this thread updated for Venus. So many times these cases slip to the nether pages after the media interest wanes. Kudos to you!!

 

[praying for you]

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/01/arguments_to_be_heard_in_venus.html[/URL]

Judge to decide whether testimony will be allowed at Venus Stewart murder trial

KATHY JESSUP
SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

CENTREVILLE — A St. Joseph County Circuit judge will hear arguments this week on whether certain testimony will be allowed during an upcoming murder trial.

Seven potential witnesses expected to testify that Venus Stewart allegedly told them she feared her husband would kill her could take the stand Thursday at a hearing to determine whether their testimony may be introduced in the upcoming murder trial of Douglas Stewart, the missing woman’s husband.

Stewart is charged with murdering his 32-year-old wife, who has been missing since she vanished outside her parents’ rural-Colon home on April 26. Investigators say they believe that she is dead.

Prosecutors say that Douglas Stewart came to Michigan to abduct and murder his wife, lining up another man to impersonate him and give him an alibi in Newport News, Va., at the time of the crime.

St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough said that Circuit Judge Paul Stutesman will hear arguments from the prosecution and defense on Thursday to determine whether certain testimony can be admitted at trial.


Courtesy PhotoVenus Stewart

Douglas Stewart’s defense attorneys argue the testimony is hearsay because it comes second-hand, through people recollecting what they say they were told by Venus Stewart before she disappeared.

Prosecutors will argue the testimony is the way Venus Stewart’s words can be admitted since she is presumed dead and is unable to provide her first-person account.

Meanwhile, Michigan State Police Detective Michael Scott, the lead investigator in the case, said investigators have no new leads in their quest to locate Venus Stewart’s body.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/01/murder_trial_in_venus_stewart.html

Murder trial in Venus Stewart case set for Feb. 18

CENTREVILLE — St. Joseph County Circuit Judge Paul Stutesman has set a Feb. 18 start date for the murder trial of Douglas Stewart, charged with abducting and killing his estranged wife, Venus Stewart.




In other action today, Stutesman denied a defense motion that requested Stewart be released on a personal recognizance bond because it has been more than 180 days since he was arrested in the case. Stewart is now in the St. Joseph County Jail on a $4 million bond.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Kimberlyd125 thank you for keeping this thread updated for Venus. So many times these cases slip to the nether pages after the media interest wanes. Kudos to you!!

I think about this case ALL THE TIME. I can't let it go. The fact that she is out there somewhere and he knows where she is but won't say just really burns my hind end. He's going down either way IMO. I feel he is depriving his daughters a final goodbye to their mother.

I try to check for news often. I used to do it every morning. But, now it's every few days or so.

Since the trial is starting in a month, we should be hearing a lot of new info.

 

[praying for you]

Went searching today....we need to find her! Hung more posters, but cannot do anything with all this snow. Praying it melts...

Venus...we are still coming for you girl! Love ya.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Waiting for Feb. 18th.
Trying to be patient.

Still praying Venus will be found. Still praying for her parents and her girls.