The boyfriend of a missing Michigan mother was brought before a court on Thursday for allegedly providing false statements to authorities regarding her disappearance, as per the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Deandre Howard Booker, aged 32, is charged with deceitfully misleading law enforcement during the probe into Ashley Elkins’ vanishing. Elkins was last sighted on January 2, disclosed the prosecutor’s office.
After discovering her car in Roseville, law enforcement proceeded to inspect Booker’s residence, where he is now being treated as the primary suspect in Elkins’ case. Detectives have reason to believe she might have met with foul play and been a victim of homicide.
“We want to bring closure for this family. My heart breaks for them, but we’re confident we can get there and we’re not going to stop until we do get there,” Chief Mitch Berlin of the Roseville Police Department said.
Investigators suspect that following Elkins’ disappearance, Booker fled to Flint, where he was captured and brought back to Roseville. In court, the prosecution revealed that while in Flint, Booker searched online for information about the quickest routes from Flint to Ohio, whether blood can be traced, strategies to defeat a polygraph test, and how to erase Google history.
“This violent act was premeditated. We will seek to enhance the charges once we get there, to exactly that, premeditated,” Berlin said, according to Detroit’s ABC 7.
Police intend to broaden their search at an undisclosed site, aiming to find more evidence that may support additional charges against Booker.
“Once we conclude our search and get these last pieces of evidence, I don’t think that guy will ever see the light of day,” Berlin said
Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo via Berlin police]
