Police: Human remains found in case against husband of missing woman

ADRIAN, Mich. (Scripps News Detroit/Court TV) — Human remains were found on property belonging to the husband of a missing woman, according to Michigan State Police.

Authorities said they found the remains Friday during a search on property in Lenawee County belonging to Dale Warner , the husband of Dee Warner.

A judge ruled that Dale Warner will trial for the murder of his wife Dee. Dee Warner was last seen in April of 2021 near her home in Tecumseh. Her body has never been found and her family believes she was a victim of domestic abuse. (Scripps News Detroit)

Dee was last seen on April 25, 2021, at her home in Tecumseh. In November 2023 , Dale was arrested and charged for her disappearance and murder.

“It was exhilarating in the fact that finally we had something… and then it was reliving that we finally accomplished something after 3 1/2 years of a really steep uphill climb,” said Gregg Hardy, Dee Warner’s brother.

Dee’s family confirmed to Scripps News Detroit that the remains were found in a sealed tank that used to hold anhydrous ammonia. At the time of the discovery, there was no ammonia in the tank and it was closed on both ends.

In March 2022, a Lenawee County court declared Dee legally dead.

Former military investigator and attorney, Billy Little, had been helping the family.

Little previously said several witnesses claimed Dee and Dale had argued about one of their businesses the day before she disappeared, and that she was planning to ask her husband for a divorce that night. Little said she even sent their then-9-year-old daughter to stay with a friend for the evening. Little said phone records show that friend sent Dee a text at 10:24 pm to ask how she was doing. Twenty-nine minutes later, the friend received a text that simply said “K.”

In June, a judge ruled Dale will stand trial for Dee’s murder. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of open murder and tampering with evidence.

At Dale’s preliminary hearing, his defense attorneys suggested Dee may not have been murdered at all, pointing out that her body had not been found .

Scripps News Detroit, an E.W. Scripps company, contributed to this report.