Billboard trolls missing woman's husband suspected of her murder

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Dee Warner disappeared connected a Sunday greeting successful the spring, conscionable arsenic the archetypal crops were being planted successful the farmland of Lenawee County, Michigan. Warner, 52, was surviving connected a workplace with her 2nd husband, Dale Warner, and their 1 kid together, past 9. The Warners ran 3 main businesses from their farm, and Dee Warner had 4 big children from her archetypal matrimony — each surviving connected their own.

Dee Warner's daughter, Rikkell Bock, lived astir a half-mile from her mother's workplace — adjacent capable to spot her mom's location from her ain beforehand yard.

It was Bock who archetypal noticed Dee Warner was missing, connected April 25, 2021, erstwhile she came implicit for their play Sunday meal and recovered nary motion of her ma astatine home. Both of Dee Warner's cars were connected the property, and she was not responding to calls oregon texts, which Bock says was precise unusual. As she tells "48 Hours" analogous Erin Moriarty in "The 'No Body' Case of Dee Warner," "if my ma could glue her telephone to her hand, she would."

Dee and Dale Warner owned a trucking concern with astir 15 employees. They besides had a workplace business, raising crops, and a chemic institution that sold fertilizer and seed, each based connected their agrarian property. Dee Warner is described by friends and household arsenic a bully businessperson — tough, generous and hard-working.

Bock says she and her big siblings had seen their parent the time earlier she disappeared and says Dee Warner told them she had been successful a combat with 2 employees from the trucking concern that Saturday. Bock says her ma was precise upset that day, which is portion of the crushed they made the determination to telephone the sheriff's bureau and study her missing that Sunday.

After constabulary got that call, the Lenawee County Sheriff's Office sent a lawman retired to the Warner home. Dale Warner met the lawman and told him astir his wife's combat with their employees the time before. He said Dee had been upset, but that helium wasn't that alarmed due to the fact that helium noticed her constitution bag, hairsbreadth dryer and curling robust were gone. He besides said his woman had been known to permission earlier erstwhile upset. Dale Warner told constabulary that helium thought his woman would chill disconnected and travel backmost home.

Dee Warner's member Gregg Hardy and his woman Shelley Hardy accidental they were disquieted that Dee Warner had been truthful upset that she whitethorn person harmed herself — and wondered if that was wherefore nary 1 could find her. Gregg Hardy says helium organized astir 50 radical to bash a ft hunt of the farmland astir his sister's workplace the play aft she was reported missing, to spot if they could find immoderate hint of her. Their hunt came up empty.

Gregg Hardy says connected the time of that search, Dale Warner showed up connected a four-wheeler and "doesn't truly participate." Gregg Hardy says helium soon began to fearfulness that Dale Warner whitethorn person harmed his sister, telling Moriarty, "I was getting these, telephone it a gut feeling if you like, immoderate you'd telephone it, but I was precise suspicious of his mannerisms."

As clip passed, Gregg Hardy says his suspicion lone grew. Hardy says it was astir six weeks aft Dee Warner had disappeared erstwhile helium asked Dale Warner however helium thought the probe was going. He says Dale Warner told him helium thought the hunt for his woman was a small slow, but OK, and Hardy says helium accused Warner of lying astir what happened to his woman and vowed to get him.

Police had searched repeatedly for immoderate hint of Dee Warner, but recovered nary motion of her dormant oregon alive, and nary signs of violence. Dale Warner spoke to constabulary galore times voluntarily astir his woman and allowed them to hunt his properties connected respective occasions. He would aboriginal assert, done an attorney, that helium had not harmed Dee and that helium had repeatedly denied harming her successful his conversations with police.

Gregg Hardy organized a nationalist vigil astatine his workplace successful the autumn of 2021 to publically inquire for justness and gully attraction to his sister's case. At that vigil, Hardy accused Dale Warner of telling a concocted communicative that his sister had near connected her own. Hardy told "48 Hours" that helium was impatient for constabulary to marque a move. But the present erstwhile region authoritative says helium emphasized to Hardy astatine the clip however important uncovering a assemblage oregon akin carnal grounds was and was alert of the risks of making an apprehension excessively quickly.

Three months aft that vigil, Shelley Hardy was watching an episode of "48 Hours" astir a lawsuit wherever the victim's household suspected foul play, but determination was nary body. The occurrence featured lawyer and researcher Billy Little, who said astir that different case, "You don't person a body. So what? You don't get to get distant with execution due to the fact that you're bully astatine disposing of bodies."

Gregg and Shelley Hardy accidental they were some moved by that statement, and wanted to find Little and spot if helium could assistance them with Dee Warner's case. Little came to Lenawee County the adjacent period to bash what helium could to assist.

Part of Little's help, Gregg Hardy says, was strategic: helium gave Hardy proposal connected however to usage the property to get the connection retired astir Dee Warner's case. And Little says helium did a batch of footwork — talking to imaginable witnesses, walking properties wherever Hardy thought they mightiness find evidence, and flying drones implicit the onshore to look for clues.

Part of that effort, they some say, was to marque Dale Warner consciousness the unit of their investigation. Soon aft Little came to help, Hardy says helium paid for a billboard that read, "Help Dale Find Dee," and enactment it up astatine a large intersection adjacent the Warner home, where, Hardy says, the motortruck drivers from their trucking institution would beryllium definite to spot it.

The billboard was intended sarcastically, Little and Hardy say, since they some didn't deliberation Dale Warner was acting similar a acrophobic husband. Little besides said the billboard was intended astir arsenic a signifier of intelligence unit connected Warner, and to publically shame him for their content that helium was not doing capable to find his wife.

With a assemblage of Dee's friends and supporters, Little and Hardy continued to clasp much rallies, and vigils, and lobbied to person authorities constabulary instrumentality implicit the lawsuit from the region sheriff. Michigan State Police did instrumentality implicit Dee Warner's lawsuit successful August 2022, but had been assisting connected the probe earlier that, arsenic did the FBI. In November 2023, authorities constabulary arrested Dale Warner and charged him with Dee Warner's murder. Dale Warner pleaded not guilty.

At the clip of that arrest, constabulary inactive had not recovered immoderate hint of Dee Warner. Dale Warner was bound implicit for proceedings successful June of 2024 and his proceedings for execution is slated to statesman connected Sept. 2, 2025.

Dale Warner and his lawyer declined to talk to "48 Hours" astir the lawsuit pretrial, arsenic did the authorities constabulary and the region prosecutor. Warner's lawyer told "48 Hours" successful an email that "Mr. Warner maintains his innocence, and we are prepared to vigorously combat for him successful tribunal and contiguous his defense."

In August 2024, soon aft Dale Warner was bound implicit for trial, constabulary recovered a large portion of carnal grounds successful the case.

On March 10, 2026, a assemblage recovered Dale Warner blameworthy of second-degree execution and tampering with grounds successful the decease of Dee Warner.

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