Missing woman found dead, suspect in custody
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- A suspect is in custody after police found the body of a young woman inside her vehicle in an apartment complex after she was reported missing on Sunday.
The Benton Harbor Department of Public Safety says a young woman was reported missing after she didn't return home Sunday.
Police later located her vehicle parked at the back of the Hayward Wells Estates complex in Benton Harbor.
The suspect was arrested in Kalamazoo on unrelated drug and weapon charges.
A neighbor who lives feet away from where the victim was found says she was suspicious of it, but she never thought her parking lot would become a crime scene.
“You know I kind of feel sad that she was out there all that time that I kept walking past the car," said Evelyn Broyles, who has lived at Hayward Wells Estates for 12 years.
She says since Sunday morning, she walked past the car sitting right next to hers multiple times.
“I seen laundry baskets piled up on the passenger seat and something on the back seat, but I didn’t want to get that close, but...we just assumed that it was someone else, because you know people come out here and park," said Broyles.
Evelyn and her neighbors thought it was odd that this car didn't have any snow on it, especially considering the entire parking lot is covered in it.
Still, she didn't connect it to the Facebook post she saw on Sunday asking for help finding a missing woman, so she didn't call the police.
“That also was making me sad, because when I looked, they said they were looking for a missing lady, and I said, 'Ooo I hope they find her,' and she was right outside my door the whole time," said Evelyn.
She only learned that sad fact when she says police showed up early Monday morning.
“That’s when I woke up and thought in my head, it’s got to be for that car," she said.
She was right.
Officials still haven't released the name of the victim or the suspect, but they say he was in a long-term relationship with her.
As he sits in the Kalamazoo jail, Berrien County has issued a warrant request on one count of Open Murder.
The woman's autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
The Berrien County Prosecutor said he will be releasing more details about the incident on Tuesday as well.