Police Investigate 600 Tips As Community Mourns Murdered Armada Teen
ARMADA (WWJ) - Michigan State Police say they've received more than 600 tips so far as they continue to investigate the murder of a 14-year-old girl in Armada.
Meantime, a registered sex offender and his son were handcuffed and arrested Wednesday in St. Clair County around 15 miles from where April Millsap's body was found.
But MSP Lt. Michael Shaw says the arrests were on marijuana-related charges, cautioning the public to not to try to guess how the men may be linked to the Millsap case.
"This is not something you wanna speculate on one way or the other, just because these two individuals were taken in on these drug charges," said Shaw, speaking live on WWJ Newsradio 950 Thursday.
Shaw talked about where they are in the investigation.
"Every tip that comes in is assigned to two detectives, and they will go out there on every tip we get until we rule it out as credible or not credible," Shaw said. "We also have some other evidence that is coming in from that data we process — and we're about a week away from that happening — from the crime scene."
Millsap was reported missing by her mother the night of July 17, after she failed to return home from walking her dog. Her body was found hours later by a couple walking Macomb Orchard Trail near Fulton and Depot roads.
Police said the teen's Border Collie, Penny, stayed with Millsap's body until she caught the couple's attention.
As MSP and an FBI task force work around the clock to find Millsap's killer, the entire community is preparing to say a final goodbye.
Visitation for Millsap was held Thursday at the Tiffany-Young and Hauss Funeral Home in Armada. A service is scheduled for Friday at St. Mary Mystical Rose Church, also in Armada.
Pink ribbons and signs and be seen throughout the close-knit rural community.
Armada resident Bill Barr, a member of Millsap's church said the young girl's death tests people's faith.
"This is when faith really counts," he told WWJ's Mike Campbell. "This is when you really need your faith. When you don't have any answers for anything and you can't understand why something like this has happened. This is when you need to fall back on that faith and believe that there is eternal life with them beyond all of the struggles and beyond all of the evil."
Barr said Millsap had recently made her confirmation at St. Mary's and planned to become more involved in the church.
"We're just all pulling together as a small community that we are," Barr added, "and these pink bows are all over town; and, denomination notwithstanding — whether the people are church-going or not doesn't matter — it's all a small town pulling together."
