The grown children of a missing Lenawee woman say there is enough circumstantial evidence that she died around the time she disappeared in 2021.
LENAWEE COUNTY, MI — Editor’s Note: The video above originally aired on August 1, 2022.
Family members c Dee Warnerwho has been missing from Lenawee County since April 2021, has filed a lawsuit to declare her deceased.
Warner’s daughter, Rickel Bock, 28, of Tecumseh, filed a petition in Lenawee County Probate Court asking for a jury to consider whether Warner can be declared legally deceased.
The filing also alleges that after Warner’s disappearance, her husband, Dale Warner, used a power of attorney to take out loans against his wife’s property and that her assets were being depleted.
Bock’s petition includes affidavits from her siblings and others who say there is enough circumstantial evidence that the devoted mother would never leave her family voluntarily to conclude she died around April 25, 2021.
Warner, 52, was last seen on April 24, 2021, when she dropped off her young daughter with a friend before going to meet her husband, according to an affidavit from friend Amy Alexander. Alexandra also said Warner told her she planned to divorce her husband.
On April 25, 2021, Rickel took her children to their mother’s house for a family dinner as planned, only to discover that their mother was missing, she wrote in her affidavit.
Although local law enforcement and community members searched, they found no sign of Warner. Her daughter’s court filing also claims that Warner’s phone and passport have not been used since she disappeared, and she has not been in contact with family or friends.
“There has never been a period in my life where I haven’t spoken to my mother for more than a week,” Rickel said in her affidavit. Her adult siblings, Amber Million, Zach Bock and Timothy Bock, also told the court that they were very close to their mother and never spoke to her for more than a few days.
Adult siblings and family friends who filed affidavits for the filing also said it was completely inappropriate for Warner to leave her now 10-year-old daughter.
In August, Michigan State Police took over investigation into Warner’s disappearance.
Warner’s children have been critical of the Lenawee County Sheriff’s handling of the case.
The court scheduled consideration of Bok’s petition for March 9.
https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/dee-warner-family-petitions-lenawee-county-court-to-declare-her-dead/512-a0bd0d39-5914-4304-8440-5e00144dfb95
