Police On High Alert In Oakland County For AWOL Marine Who Threatened To Kill Wife
PONTIAC (WWJ) - Local authorities are on alert after learning that an AWOL Marine could be headed for Michigan after leaving his base in North Carolina, threatening to kill his estranged wife.
Speaking live on WWJ Wednesday morning, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said they were notified that 21-year-old Clenard Gee-Simmons has made "credible threats" to his 19-year-old estranged wife and her family, who live in Pontiac.
"She left and moved here to get away from him and is in the process of filing divorce," said Bouchard. "And further, he had been in some kind of modified segregated situation and had left the base without permission."
Government officials say Gee-Simmons "fled from a low priority lockdown unit" at Camp Lejeune on Monday.
"The information the military gave us is that he had made statements or some kind of inclination that he was going to kill her, and he might be in possession of an AK-47," said Bouchard. "Not a lot of tips on where he is. He could be somewhere potentially between North Carolina and here -- anywhere. We just don't know at this point."
Tuesday night, Gee-Simmons reportedly contacted WXYT-TV in Detroit, saying he was not in Michigan, was not threatening to kill his wife and would eventually turn himself in.
"I left base. I was not detained," he told the TV station, adding that he was not armed. "I left base because I have, like, other issues going on right now. I left base for like, stress. I just didn't want to be [on base] at the moment."
He continued, "They took my Facebook post and blew it our of proportion."
According to the report, Gee-Simmons wrote on Facebook: "Has someone ever made you so mad, that you feel like wiping out them and their whole entire family?"
Bouchard said the woman and her family have since been placed in protective custody out of an abundance of caution.
"We are asking the public if they see him or see the car to not approach him, but to let us know," he said. "Until this settles out, we just want to make sure we're making everyone safe and keeping this situation as calm as we can. And we encourage him to turn himself in."
Gee-Simmons is thought to be driving a 2011 teal Toyota Camry with North Carolina license plate "DEP 1561."
Anyone with information should call 911, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office at 248-858-4911, or 888-TURN-1-IN.