Jessica Heeringa/attempted abduction Big Update 5-25-16

that is really interesting...could very well be related..will see if something comes of this

Small update on the attempted abduction:

MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Authorities are trying to determine if a man arrested for an abduction in Muskegon County is linked to the disappearance of Jessica Heeringa.

Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler confirmed a man was was taken into custody Tuesday morning at a Muskegon Township home for the April 16 incident on W. River Road near Green Creek Road, north of Muskegon.

“The detectives stuck to it … and now we’ve made an arrest, ” Roesler said.
APRIL ABDUCTION

According to deputies, the 16-year-old girl said she got lost while walking home the morning of April 16. A vehicle stopped and the driver, a white man in his 30s or 40s, offered her his cellphone, she said.

She told authorities she got into his vehicle, but the driver pulled away and wouldn’t let her use his cellphone.

The victim said she asked to be let out, but the driver locked the doors and continued driving. She told authorities she saw the man reach for what appeared to be a handgun.

She then unlocked the door and jumped out of the moving vehicle on Green Creek Road. She was taken to the hospital for treatment.

“I’m sure it’s the guy,” Roesler told 24 Hour News 8 Tuesday about the April abduction arrest.

Based on jail records, 24 Hour News 8 determined the suspect in the recent abduction is 46-year-old Jeffrey Willis. Jail records show he is being held on a kidnapping charge.

State records show Willis lives in the 1800 block of S. Sheridan Drive in Muskegon Township, where police were searching Tuesday. He has no prior arrests in Michigan, according to a criminal background check.

http://woodtv.com/2016/05/17/1-arrested-for-april-abduction-attempt-authorities-investigate-possible-heeringa-link/

NORTON SHORES, Mich. (WOOD) — Authorities are searching an abandoned property connected to a Muskegon County abduction suspect.

A Michigan State Police mobile lab was parked on the property in the 3000 block of Bailey Street in Norton Shores Wednesday morning. Sheriff Dean Roesler told 24 Hour News 8 the property was once owned by Jeffrey Willis’ grandfather who died a few years ago.

The sheriff said police are searching the abandoned property to determine if there may be any evidence connecting Willis to other open cases in Muskegon County. Wednesday’s search efforts appear to be mainly focused on the garage on the property.

The sheriff said while investigators have found no positive evidence linking Willis to the April 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa, authorities are continuing to investigate similarities between the April 16 abduction and Heeringa’s case.

The sheriff told 24 Hour News 8 Tuesday authorities an earlier search turned up a handgun, but they’re not sure if it was the handgun used in the April 16 abduction.

http://woodtv.com/2016/05/18/msp-searches-muskegon-co-property-linked-to-abduction-suspect/

MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — A Muskegon County abduction suspect had syringes, handcuffs and a rope inside his van, according to Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson.

In court Wednesday, Hilson said a search of Jeffrey Thomas Willis’ van uncovered a secret compartment that held multiple syringes containing a liquid that appeared to be a sedative. Hilson said during the search, investigators also recovered handcuffs and a rope from the silver minivan.

“This was a vehicle designed to not only to kidnap but also take sexual advantage of women,” Hilson said during Willis’ arraignment.

Hilson said investigators are following up on leads that may also connect Willis to the disappearance of Jessica Heeringa and murder of Rebekah Bletsch.

Bletsch was found on the side of Automobile Road southeast of Whitehall on June 29, 2014. She had been shot three times in the back of the head and had bruises to her wrists, hands, back and a leg, search warrants revealed. Bletsch regularly jogged in that area, which is near her home.

Heeringa vanished April 26, 2013 from her job at the ExxonMobil gas station on Sternberg Road in Norton Shores. She left behind her purse, cigarettes, money and her car. Investigators later found a few drops of blood outside the gas station. generic jessica heeringa

A silver minivan similar in description to Willis’ was captured on area surveillance cameras the night Heeringa disappeared.

“It is my opinion that Mr. Willis poses an extreme danger to our public to our county to the citizens in it,” Hilson added.

Willis was charged Wednesday with felony kidnapping, assault with a dangerous weapon and felony firearm in connection to the April 16 abduction of a 16-year-old girl in Fruitland Township.

The victim said she got lost while walking home that morning. A vehicle stopped and the driver offered her his cellphone, she said.

She told authorities she got into his vehicle, but the driver pulled away and wouldn’t let her use his cellphone.

The victim said she asked to be let out, but the driver locked the doors and continued driving. She told authorities she saw the man reach for what appeared to be a handgun. That’s when she unlocked the door and jumped out of the moving vehicle.

According to the court complaint, Willis is accused of kidnapping or knowingly restraining the teen with the intent to commit a sex assault.

If convicted on the kidnapping charge alone, Willis could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Willis appeared without a lawyer at Wednesday’s arraignment.

Based on the charges filed against him, Willis’ DNA was collected at his arrest, according to Hilson.

State, county and city police also searched a Norton Shores property connected to Willis Wednesday morning. Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler said crime lab technicians took samples from the wall of the relatively empty, dilapidated building on Bailey Street.

Judge Kostrzewa set Willis’ bond at $1 million. His next court hearing is scheduled for May 26.

http://woodtv.com/2016/05/18/muskegon-co-abduction-suspect-to-appear-in-court/

New Update Today :

NORTON SHORES, Mich. (WOOD) — A man already charged with trying to kidnap a 16-year-old girl near Muskegon is now officially being considered a person of interest in the 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa.

The Norton Shores Police Department said in a Monday release that it was working with a number of agencies to see if Jeffrey Willis may be connected to Heeringa’s case.

Heeringa vanished from the Norton Shores gas station where she worked on April 26, 2013. She left behind her coat and her purse, which contained more than $400. Police have had little to go on from day one, their strongest leads a sketch of a possible suspect and a few surveillance images of a silver minivan that witnesses said they saw at the gas station.

Willis, 46, was arrested earlier this month and charged with trying to abduct a 16-year-old girl as she walked in the early morning hours of April 16.

This is a breaking development. Check back for further details soon.

Earlier:

DALTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler feels his department is “on the right track” to connecting an abduction suspect to the murder of Rebekah Bletsch.

Jeffrey Willis was arrested last week and charged with kidnapping a 16-year-old girl in Fruitland Township on April 16.

Roesler said Willis was arrested around 6:45 a.m. on May 17 as he drove home from his job at Herman Miller, where he worked the overnight shift at the company’s Hickory facility in Spring Lake.

While searching Willis’ silver minivan, authorities uncovered two lock boxes that contained disturbing photos of females bound and gagged, as well as handcuffs, chains, ropes, syringes, ammunition and a .22-caliber pistol that had its serial number destroyed, court documents indicate.

Authorities also found .22-caliber shell casings near Bletsch’s body, according to search warrants from the June 2014 case.

Roesler told 24 Hour News 8 ballistics tests will be performed this week on a weapon found during Willis’ arrest to see if it matches the murder weapon in Bletsch’s case. A team of more than two dozen people are following up on leads in western Michigan.

Neighbors found Bletsch lying along the side of a rural Dalton Township road she often jogged. She had been shot three times in the back of the head. Bletsch also had bruises on her wrists, ankles, back and leg.

Investigators are also working to see if Willis could have any connection to the April 26, 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa from the gas station where she worked. A silver minivan similar in description to Willis’ was captured on area surveillance cameras the night Heeringa vanished.

Willis is accused of also kidnapping or knowingly restraining a Fruitland Township teenager with the intent to commit a sex assault. He’s also charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and felony firearm in connection to the April 16 abduction.

Muskegon Township, attempted abduction
An undated courtesy photo of the scrapes that a 16-year-old girl sustained when she jumped from a moving minivan to escape an alleged attempted kidnapper.

The victim said she got lost while walking home that morning. A vehicle stopped and the driver offered her his cellphone, she said.

She told authorities she got into his vehicle, but the driver pulled away and wouldn’t let her use his cellphone.

The victim said she asked to be let out, but the driver locked the doors and continued driving. She told authorities she saw the man reach for what appeared to be a handgun. That’s when she unlocked the door and jumped out of the moving vehicle.

Willis was once questioned by police in 2007 for allegedly videotaping people in a Sam’s Club parking lot, but he was never arrested, records show.

Police had also been to Willis’ home three times for domestic incidents and twice for animal complaints over the last seven years.

Herman Miller has said Willis is on leave from his job, pending further investigation. He’s worked there for 18 years, taking home a salary of $450 a week, according to a court document requesting a court-appointed attorney.

http://woodtv.com/2016/05/23/sheriff-on-the-right-track-to-connecting-willis-to-bletsch-murder/

DALTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — A Muskegon County abduction suspect is expected to be charged in the 2014 murder of Rebekah Bletsch.

A source tells 24 Hour News 8 the Muskegon County prosecutor will be filing charges against Jeffrey Willis as soon as Wednesday. The exact charges are not known at this time.

Ballistics testing on the gun found in Willis’ van matched shell casings found near Bletsch’s body, a source told 24 Hour News 8.

Prosecutors and the Muskegon County Sheriff’s Department are planning to hold a 10 a.m. press conference to announce the charges. We’ll carry it live on WOOD TV8 and will also livestream it on woodtv.com.

On June 29, 2014, neighbors found the 36-year-old woman alongside Automobile Road in Dalton Township, where she often jogged. She had been shot three times in the back of the head, according to her death certificate. She also had bruises on her wrists, ankles, back and leg.

Willis was arrested last week in connection to the April 16 abduction of a 16-year-old girl. He’s charged with felony kidnapping, assault with a dangerous weapon and felony firearm. According to the court complaint, Willis is accused of kidnapping or knowingly restraining the teen with the intent to commit a sex assault.

The victim said she got lost while walking home that morning. A vehicle stopped and the driver offered her his cellphone, she said.
Muskegon Township, attempted abduction
An undated courtesy photo of the scrapes that a 16-year-old girl sustained when she jumped from a moving minivan to escape an alleged attempted kidnapper.

She told authorities she got into his vehicle, but the driver pulled away and wouldn’t let her use his cellphone. The victim said she asked to be let out, but the driver locked the doors and continued driving.

She told authorities she saw the man reach for what appeared to be a handgun. That’s when she unlocked the door and jumped out of the moving vehicle.

Willis has also been named a person of interest in the disappearance of Jessica
Heeringa.

Heeringa vanished April 26, 2013 from her job at a gas station on Sternberg Road in Norton Shores. She left behind her purse, cigarettes, money and her car. Investigators later found a few drops of blood outside the gas station.

A silver minivan similar in description to Willis’ was captured on area surveillance cameras the night Heeringa disappeared.

A search of Willis’ silver van uncovered two lock boxes. One of the lock boxes contained disturbing photos of females bound and gagged, handcuffs, chains, ropes, and syringes including one with a liquid, according to court documents.

The other lock box contained ammo and a .22-caliber pistol, but the serial number had been destroyed, court documents show.

“This was a vehicle designed to not only to kidnap but also take sexual advantage of women,” said Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson during Willis’ arraignment last week.

http://woodtv.com/2016/05/25/abduction-suspect-to-be-charged-in-rebekah-bletchs-murder/