Missing mother of two found shot dead and buried with another woman in makeshift grave
2
View
comments
- Man arrested as police find his trailer spattered with blood and bodies in freshly dug earth on his property
- Police say suspect is related to one of the victims, and has been dating the other
- Shotgun recovered from suspect's home
Tragic discovery: Amy Henslee had been missing for three days, and police had hoped to find her alive
A mother of two has been discovered buried with the corpse of another woman three days after she vanished from her home, police in Michigan revealed today.
Amy Henslee, 30, had been shot multiple times by a shotgun - and the discovery of her body has sparked a murder case that has a tangled family connection.
Henslee’s husband, James, reported his wife missing after she did not show up to pick up the couple’s sons - aged eight and ten - from school on Monday afternoon.
At first, both police and her family believed the missing mother was still alive and had left home voluntarily.
But after two days of appeals for her to return home, police went to the home of Mr Henslee's cousin, Junior Lee Beebe.
There they found the body of Mrs Henslee buried in a makeshift grave - along with the body of 36-year-old Tonya Howarth.
Ms Howarth, who had also been shot several times by a shotgun, was said to be dating Beebe - who has a long criminal record for violent assaults and firearms possession.
Beebe, 34, was arraigned this morning on two charges of murder and two counts of possession of a gun during the commission of a felony.
A shotgun had been recovered from his home, according to authorities.
He is being held without bond at the Van Buren County Jail in Michigan.
Detectives are now trying to piece together the last moments leading up to the double murder.
They believe Mrs Henslee left willingly with Beebe from her home in Hartford Township, a small town about 60 miles southwest of Grand Rapids.
Gruesome: Tanya Howarth's body was found with Mrs Henslee. Friends of Ms Howarth say that she was dating Junior Lee Beebe, who has been arrested in connection with the two women's deaths
Van Buren County Sheriff Dale Gribler said: ‘Everything indicated that there was no physical confrontation when she left.'
Sheriff Gribler would not say how police tracked her movements to Beebe’s trailer in Bangor Township, about six miles away.
RELATED ARTICLES
Human remains found in Texas identified as missing... 
Husband 'kept wife locked in cellar for 16 YEARS while he...
Share this article
ShareInside the trailer, officers discovered a pool of blood and the bodies were buried nearby. The victims were identified by photographs and tattoos.
Ms Howarth also had two daughters, but they were not living with her.
Held without bond: Beebe is being held in the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office on charges relating to murder and weapons possession
Friends said she had been dating Beebe for several years, but he had regularly beaten her in the past.
Stephanie Hawkins told ABC News: ‘She was like a big sister to me. I hadn’t seen her in a while, because Beebe was her boyfriend and he beat her, and I kept telling her that "one of these days he’s going to end up killing you".'
Police said Mr Henslee was not a suspect in the murder. He last saw his wife when he left for work on Monday morning and became increasingly worried when he couldn’t reach her on the phone all day.
The disappearance shocked the small town of 3,000 people, many of whom plastered missing posters up around the area after learning she had vanished.
A memorial page on Facebook has already attracted more than 5,000 members.
Beebe is said to have a criminal record dating back to 1995, including convictions for domestic violence, assault and illegal gun possession.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWJ%2BdIGQb2luZ32ewLS1zaBkpqeknbKzedKhpq1llJqupXnBrqminZRiuqK3xKyfop6kYrSzrdWeZLCnnZa7b7TTpqM%3D