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Investigators 'confident' about search for missing Warren mother
The search for 30-year-old Ashley Elkins led police to Pine Tree Acres, a landfill in Macomb County, spending six hours there on Monday. They dug through trash, with a special focus on a six acre area of the landfill as they looked for any sign of the missing Warren woman.
MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Police are on day two of the search for Warren mother in a Metro Detroit landfill, after she went missing at the beginning of January.
What they're saying:
The search for 30-year-old Ashley Elkins led police to Pine Tree Acres, a landfill in Macomb County, spending six hours there on Monday. They dug through trash, with a special focus on a six acre area of the landfill as they looked for any sign of the missing Warren woman.
They returned to the landfill on Tuesday, with all hands on deck.
"We’re getting close, like I said, a lot of movement today. The search went very smooth today, worked out a lot of kinks yesterday," said Roseville Police Chief Mitch Berlin. "We got 43 officers walking across it right now."
Officials say they are confident in finding Elkin's but according to her family, they believe she is dead.
What happened to Ashley Elkins
Elkins, a mother of two, was last heard from on Jan. 2 as she ran errands. She messaged her family members that she was heading back from a beauty supply store. No one has heard from her in more than a week, something that is out of character for her.
"She loves her family, her kids. She would never just disappear for this many days," her sister Alexis Elkins said.
Her family then started searching for her before police got involved last week.
Those family members have been suspicious of her ex-boyfriend, De'Andre Booker, since she disappeared. According to her family, her phone last pinged near her ex's Roseville apartment.
"Her mother has said numerous times, ‘He threw her out with the trash,’" Morton said. "That's disheartening."
On Jan. 7, police found her car in the area of 13 Mile and Little Mack in Roseville, just a few miles away from the apartment. That same night, her ex's apartment was searched. He was arrested the next day.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Elkins' boys.
Ashley Elkins, 30, disappeared on Jan. 2 when she left to run some errands.
Suspect charged in Ashley Elkins case
Last week, Elkins' ex-boyfriend De'Andre Booker was arrested and charged with lying to police in the case.
Booker, 32, allegedly fled to Flint, where he searched for the fastest routes to Ohio. He's accused of planning to leave the state and the prosecutor said last week that his research also included what to do while on the run, as well as how to beat a polygraph test, and if blood is traceable.
Additionally, he allegedly looked up how to delete his Google search history.
The prosecution argued that these searches suggest that Booker would flee if released on bond. His bond was set at $250,000 cash/surety on Thursday.
Who is De'Andre Booker?
According to information presented in court, Booker is currently unemployed.
Booker previously served in the United States Army but was removed from the military with a less than honorable discharge after going AWOL in 2017. This happened after he was charged the year before with several crimes while serving, including larceny and possessing fake identification documents.
What's next:
Police say they will return on Wednesday to see where they are at.
Meanwhile, Booker is due back in court for a probable cause conference on Jan. 22 before a preliminary exam on Jan. 29.
The Source: Information from this story was gathered from police, court, and Ashley Elkins' family.
'We're a little nervous': Ashley Elkins search leads police to Macomb County landfill
Police searching for Ashley Elkins have been combing through a Macomb County landfill. The mother of two disappeared on Jan. 2, and her ex-boyfriend has been charged with lying to police.