Man charged with wife’s murder 20 months after she mysteriously disappears

A Michigan man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance and presumed death of his wife, police say.

Dee Ann Warner, 52, was last seen on the 24th or 25th of April 2021. Now, after one year and eight months, law enforcement officials believe her husband is the one responsible for her still-mysterious disappearance.

On Nov. 21, Dale Warner, 53, was charged with open murder and tampering with evidence, according to the Michigan State Police.

The body of the alleged victim — who family members believe was abused by her husband — has not yet been found.

“Working a no body homicide brings on unique challenges,” Michigan State Police Detective First Lieutenant, Commander of the First District Special Investigative Section Michael Dillon said in a press release. “The detectives on this case have done a phenomenal job with the investigation, and working collaboratively with the Lenawee County Prosecutor. I have the utmost confidence in this case moving forward.”

Details about the investigation are scarce.

The missing woman ran a trucking company out of the barns located on her property on Mugner Road in Franklin Township, roughly 70 miles southwest of Detroit, according to Detroit-based NBC affiliate WDIV. On May 6, 2021, some two weeks after her family last made contact with her, the non-profit Crime Stoppers shared information about her case and requested the public’s assistance in helping to solve the mystery of her disappearance. By then, Dee Warner’s cellular phone was dead and there was no activity in her bank accounts.

On Wednesday, Dale Warner was arraigned and pleaded not guilty, according to a report by Toledo, Ohio, based CBS affiliate WTOL. A request for bail by the defendant’s attorney was denied.

Left: Dale Warner (Lenawee County Jail); Right: Dee Ann Warner (Crime Stoppers)

“We believe that a fair and objective review of the evidence — or more precisely the lack of evidence in this case — will show that Mr. Warner did not kill his wife,” defense attorney, Mary Chartier, told The Detroit News.

The investigation into the woman’s vanishment was initially conducted by the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office. Later, state troopers and the FBI were brought in to help. In October 2021, digs were conducted with the use of underground sonar devices at the missing woman’s property, the TV station reported.

“There’s no big tip that facilitated this,” Lenawee County Sheriff Troy Bevier told WDIV at the time. “Really, what this is, is kind of a culmination of all the work that we’ve been doing over the summer. We’ve been pretty much following up on every lead and all the information, and this just seemed like a prudent time to come out and do another search – a really good, thorough search of the property.”

Dee Ann Warner’s family believe the still-lost woman was victimized by domestic violence.

“Our family has suffered a long share (and) there’s one person who could have eliminated all of that, and that’s the person who is in jail tonight,” her brother, Gregg Hardy, told WDIV. “My sister was a very strong person. I do believe that she thought she could handle the task at hand. She suffered from the same thing a lot of battered women have, and that is (thinking) they can change the person that they’re married to.”

Dale Warner is being held on $20 million bond, according to police. A bail hearing is scheduled for Nov. 27.