Family worried for missing Livonia mom • Violent carjackings in Detroit • Camera enforcement in work zones
WEDNESDAY NEWS HIT - There are concerns about a married mother of two out of Livonia, who has been reported missing.
UPDATE: Missing Livonia woman found dead from apparent suicide
The last time 36-year-old Kasey DeBat was seen, she was leaving her home just before 7 p.m. Monday and has been gone without being heard from, since. She was driving a white 2019 Ford Flex.
Her husband alerted family members she was missing Tuesday morning and said when he tried to reach her, her phone was off.
"She left the house somewhere between 6:30 and 8:00 last night," said her sister Tiffany Sanchez. "That she had been walking up and down the stairs a bunch of times and then left the house. I think they had just had a small argument, nothing major, a normal little marital tiff."
Her sister says she's terrified because Kasey has never left her two young girls without telling anyone, especially her family where she was going.
Sanchez says her sister suffers from anxiety, but has never taken off like this before.
Family members have reported DeBat missing to police and they say are hoping she returns home safe.
Anyone with information is asked to call Livonia police at (734) 466-2470.
Missing Kasey DeBat
Suspect carjacks 71-year-old's Jeep in Detroit after asking victim for ride
Detroit police are searching for a man they say robbed an elderly individual of his vehicle after asking him for a ride to the gas station. The carjacking in Detroit happened while the suspect and victim were traveling in the area of Richton and Lawton around midnight Wednesday.
Police say the suspect asked a 71-year-old man for a ride to a nearby gas station prior to the assault.
While en-route, the suspect saw a friend and asked the victim if they could also give her a ride. The victim agreed and picked up the woman who police are considering a person of interest.
Suspect involved in carjacking in Detroit. Photo via Detroit police
As they were driving, the suspect assaulted the victim and demanded his vehicle, a green Jeep Commander Both the victim and the female passenger then exited the vehicle and the suspect fled the scene. He was last seen in a gray t-shirt, gray jogging pants with black stripes, and red tennis shoes. Footage of the suspect shows he was also carrying a white towel at a gas station.
DPD looking for 15-year-old carjacker who rammed Detroit police
The Detroit Police Department said they're looking for a teenage suspect wanted for a carjacking and ramming of a Detroit police officer Sunday evening. White announced the suspect wanted is 15-year-old Michael Malik Brown, who is believed to have carjacked the SUV, rammed an officer, and was shot at by police after they tried to box him in at a gas station.
According to police, it all unfolded late Sunday evening at a Citgo gas station near Eight Mile and Southfield in Detroit. Detroit police said surveillance officers had been following a GMC Yukon earlier in the day after reports it had been carjacked at gunpoint. They eventually called for uniformed officers to stop the car.
When it parked at the gas station to drop someone off, officers moved in an attempt to box it in. The suspect then drove toward police, prompting officers to fire at the individual as he rammed their car. The driver continued down a block of Faust before crashing into a tree. The suspect then bailed and ran from the scene.
During Tuesday's update, Detroit Police said the Yukon rolled over one scout car and nearly cursed an officer. This is when 9 shots were fired. The Yukon then drove out of the parking lot for about 3 blocks before it crashed into a tree. Police said they don't believe Brown was hit by any of the rounds. White said the teenager is dangerous.
Read more about the chaotic incident here.
Michigan weighs work zones cameras to catch speeders, slow traffic
The next ticket you get may come in the mail instead of during a traffic stop. At least that's the case if you're caught going 10 over in a construction zone. Under a bill introduced earlier this year, lawmakers are trying to modernize Michigan's traffic enforcement in work zones with the use of cameras.
The bill would lift some of the burden off of police while improving safe driving practices, lawmakers behind the bill say. "It's really just to change the behavior of drivers," said Rep. Sara Cambensy (D-Marquette). "(We're trying) to educate drivers, not punish them."
Drivers that violate the speed limit would receive a written warning for the first offense, a $150 ticket the second time, and a $300 for the third time. Any money that comes from the enforcement option would go into a work zone safety fund to make the zones safer to work in.
The bill is intended to help curb dangerous driving that has climbed during the pandemic, as well as give road crews some added help ahead of what's expected to be a busy couple of road construction seasons following a major boost in federal money for more projects.
Read more about the bill here.
Eastern Michigan professors go on strike
Professors at Eastern Michigan University voted by an overwhelming majority to strike against the school after negotiations between the union and the college failed. The EMU American Association of University Professors rejected a 15.2% pay raise as part of a new contract, arguing they deserve better health care.
The university said students should still attend classes Wednesday and wait 15 minutes before leaving in case their professor shows up. It's unlikely many of the 500-strong group shows up for classes. Previously, EMU also said it had attempted to break an impasse with the union over health care costs with a salary increase to cover increased premiums.
"We understand the union’s frustration with being asked to share more of the increasing costs of providing healthcare to employees and families," it said in a statement. "But there are very few employers and employees in the United States, or among the other bargaining units at this University, that have not had to make similar adjustments to health care costs."
The union says it took issue with the university leadership's claims about health care costs.
"Administrators have inaccurately described their proposal to reduce compensation for many faculty with massive increases in health care costs as a pay "increase." They have also demanded that faculty accept a health care plan that is more costly and onerous that the insurance coverage agreed to and currently in effect for members of other campus bargaining units," the release said.
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Daily Forecast
It's going to be 80s and sunny skies for the rest of the week and probably Saturday as well before rain hits Sunday. The beginning of fall appears to be peaking out from the corner with a dip in temperatures next week.
What else we're watching
- When will Michigan's leaves start to change? The great fall foliage transformation is upon us with the publishing of the states' map this weekend. See the specific here.
- Cedar Point is retiring its iconic Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster this season after 19 years of giving some of the highest and fastest rides an amusement park can offer. The ride was involved in an accident last year when a woman was struck by a piece of shrapnel.
- A Detroit police officer was granted a new trial after he was caught on camera beating a mentally ill woman in a hospital. DPD Sgt. Dewayne Jones was filmed in 2018 hitting a woman who was in a state of undress at the time.
- A massive brawl broke out at a Ypsilanti movie theater during $3 movie day Saturday. Some 100 "disorderly subjects" were in the theater and parking lot when the action started.
- The mayor will unveil how Amazon will donate $250,000 to nonprofits in and around the city of Detroit Wednesday. He'll be joined by several nonprofit leaders at the Durfee Innovation Society on Collingwood Street.
Police identify body of kidnapped Memphis jogger Eliza Fletcher
Police in Tennessee said Tuesday they had found the body of a Memphis woman abducted during a pre-dawn run, confirming fears that Eliza Fletcher was killed after she was forced into an SUV on Friday morning.
The news followed an exhaustive search throughout the long weekend with dogs, ATVs and a helicopter in a case that has drawn national media attention and is already becoming a source of partisan controversy over criminal sentencing and parole.
U.S. Marshals arrested Cleotha Abston, 38, on Saturday after police detected his DNA on a pair of sandals found near to where Fletcher was last seen, according to an arrest affidavit. Police did not find Fletcher's body until just after 5 p.m. on Monday and did not publicly confirm that the body was Fletcher's until Tuesday morning. The 34-year-old Fletcher was a school teacher and the granddaughter of a prominent Memphis businessman.