Heather Kelley's boyfriend charged with murder after Michigan mother's 2022 disappearance

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - A Michigan man is facing murder charges stemming from the disappearance of his former girlfriend Heather Kelley, who was last seen in late 2022.

Carlos Watts Jr., 38, of Kalamazoo, was charged last week with open murder. 

Kelley, of Portage, was last seen Dec. 10, 2022. Authorities say she left home around 9 p.m. to pick up Watts from a restaurant where he worked. When she talked to her children on the phone around 10:20 p.m., the mother of eight told them she would be home soon but never arrived.

Authorities said Kelley was last seen on video that night in the Comstock Township area after 10 p.m. Her body has never been found.

Watts is accused of murdering Kelley and then fleeing a halfway house. He was living at the house as part of a court order after he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for cocaine, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. 

Prosecutors say he used a pair of scissors to cut his ankle monitor off at the halfway house on Dec. 12, 2022, and fled because he had killed Kelley.

Watts was arrested two days later at a home in Battle Creek. Authorities say he barricaded himself in that house for several hours before eventually surrendering. He's been in custody since then.

"Carlos Watts poses a tremendous threat to our community," said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. "While finishing his sentence at a halfway house for drug trafficking and possessing a firearm, Mr. Watts cut his tether, fled the facility, and has since been charged with the murder of his former girlfriend.

Watts was sentenced to 14 months in prison last week for fleeing the halfway house. Once that federal sentence is completed, he will be transferred to state custody to face the murder charge.

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