The body of a mother of four who has been missing since 2021 has been found and identified in a manure tank during a search of her husband’s farm.
Dee Ann Warner, who disappeared from her Michigan home in the early morning hours of April 25, 2021, was officially declared dead in March, nearly three years after she was last seen.
Five months earlier, state police announced that Warner’s husband, 56-year-old Dale Warner, had been arrested in connection with the case, charged with first-degree murder, as she remained missing. He was last in court for a arraignment in June and is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 4.
Dee’s remains, meanwhile, were found during a search of a farm owned by Dale Friday, three miles from where she disappeared.
A family spokesman added that the family was notified late Saturday night that the body had been found in a waterless tank, similar to a propane tank, and that whoever put the body in there had re-welded it shut and painted over it. The remains are now being recovered, police said.
Dee Ann Warner, who disappeared from her Michigan home in the early morning of April 25, was officially declared dead in March, nearly three years after she was last seen.
In November, state police announced that Warner’s husband, 56-year-old Dale Warner, had been arrested in connection with the case, charged with open murder as she remained missing. He is seen here in court shortly after his arrest
“Recovery efforts are underway to recover the remains,” Michigan State Police said in a news release Sunday.
“Considerable work and testing will be required before a positive identification can be made,” the report continued.
‘Dee Warner’s family have been informed of the findings.
“This is still an ongoing investigation.”
The family further stated that the body was found in a remote part of the Paragon Road property and an autopsy has already been scheduled.
The test will be carried out on Tuesday in the hope of determining the cause of death as police try to put an end to the investigation that has lasted nearly three and a half years.
In 2022, before Dale was named as a suspect, the family filed a petition in court to declare Dee dead. They did this partly to gain control of the woman’s assets, and also in the hopes of filing a wrongful death lawsuit against him. After all, he was the person she had an appointment with before he suddenly disappeared.
Dale, who owns several farms near the family home in Franklin Township, has maintained his innocence throughout.
Pictured is the house in Franklin Township, Michigan, where Dee disappeared in April 2021, three miles from where the body was found
The remains were found in this waterless tank, the woman’s relatives said, adding that whoever placed the body in it had re-welded the tank shut and painted over it.
The fertilizer tank was named War-Ag Farms – a farming operation registered to Dale. His farm – where the body was found – can be seen here
The tank was towed from the property Sunday after Michigan State Police officers conducted a search.
Police made the discovery Friday at two of his properties in Lenawee County.
On Sunday, the fertilizer tanker labeled War-Ag Farms was seen being dragged away from one of the properties. Family members confirmed to WTOL11 that the remains were inside.
War-Ag Farms is a business registered on Dale, records show. Several migrants sued the company in 2019, alleging it defrauded some of them, cheated them out of their wages and created “unsafe working conditions.”
The company was founded by Dale in 2005.
A family member told WTOL11 on Sunday: “I would like to see a solution to this as soon as possible.”
Warner was last seen at the family’s home on Munger Road, but she had no contact with family members by phone or social media since then, prompting a search.
In June, during her husband’s arraignment, prosecutors revealed text messages the woman had sent her before her disappearance, including one she sent to a friend in which she described being pushed into a dresser by Dale.
Dee had four children and was declared legally dead earlier this year. An autopsy will be performed on Tuesday
She then expressed her fear that Dale would kill her, to which the defense responded that there was no physical evidence that Dee had been murdered.
They also said there was no physical link between him and the crime, something that will no longer be the case if the remains are found to be Dee’s.
She then expressed her fear that Dale would kill her, to which the defense responded that there was no physical evidence that Dee had been murdered.
They also said there was no physical link to the crime, something that will no longer be the case if the remains are found to be Dee’s. She was 52 when she disappeared.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Michigan State Police for more information.