GENESEE COUNTY (WWJ) - The Genesee County Sheriff says the husband of a missing Flint-area couple is believed to be their primary suspect after he was found without his wife and shot himself during a confrontation with authorities on Wednesday morning.
"It's gothic, it's grotesque and it's uncomfortable going down this path," Sheriff Chris Swanson said of the new details that emerged overnight in the disappearance of 60-year old Kelly McWhirter and her husband, 57-year-old Steven Higgins, both of Flushing.
According to the sheriff's office, the couple last had contact with anyone on Saturday, Oct. 14, before going missing and their investigation led them to believe foul play was involved. Authorities asked the public's help in identifying a gray 2009 Ford F-150 with a license plate of 8PBJ46.
The truck had a chrome running board along its side and a black, rolled up bed cover.
Early Wednesday morning, Swanson said someone spotted the truck and a major development turned the case on its head.
"We do have a major break," Swanson told WWJ's Jackie Paige and Johnathan Carlson in an exclusive interview at 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 18.
Swanson said authorities tracked down Higgins in Montrose, northwest of Flint. He was without his wife and during a confrontation with deputies around 4 a.m. on Wednesday (Oct. 18), Higgins shot himself.
"What I couldn't say yesterday is there was a significant amount of blood at the scene in Flushing," Swanson said of the couple's shared home in Flushing. "So we knew that there was some type of trauma when we did the missing report, to get it out and find the vehicle, that vehicle was located because of a caller from Saginaw that saw the truck just northern Genesee County in Montrose .And when it was reported, we had officers in the area, they spotted the vehicle and pulled into a driveway. There is a confrontation at the driveway and Steve Higgins made indications through a window that he understood the commands and then suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head."
Higgins was rushed to Hurley Hospital where he is currently in surgery.
Swanson said they are racing to find his wife, McWhirter, who is still missing after deputies found blood and digging tools in Higgins' truck.
"It doesn't look promising, but the tragic next conclusion to this story is there's significant evidence in the vehicle -- it's a high probability that Kelly McWhirter now is a victim and we do not have her location," Swanson said. "We're hopeful that she's still safe, but I can't say that that's going to be the whole outcome. So I know it's heavy in the morning, but that's where we're at right now. We've been working it all night."
Swanson said they learned Higgins drove down to Ohio on either southbound US-23 or I-75 and spent Saturday and Sunday in a small town just outside of Sandusky.
Now, law enforcement is sweeping the routes to try and locate McWhirter.
"We know that our crime scene is from Flushing, Michigan to Ohio. And I know this because he did go to Ohio without her. We have confirmation there. We worked with local police and the FBI in Ohio confirmed that they did make the trip. Now, what happened along that path of 75 and 23 that's what we're finding out."
Swanson dropped another bombshell in the investigation by confirming to WWJ that he knew McWhirter personally for 15 years from when she worked as a secretary at his office. She had retired, but was brought back on to work at the Board of Commissioner's office.
"She is a ball of energy. She is lively, so it's a double tragedy on top of what we're already dealing with, but we're, we're gonna find where she is," Swanson vowed.
According to the sheriff, McWhirter had recently filed for divorce but she had never mentioned any marriage woes to Swanson.
The sheriff said he hopes that McWhirter is still safe, but that Higgin's action when he was confronted "spoke volumes."
"I will tell you 30 plus years in law enforcement... it's unlikely and rare that we actually have a suspect and no individual. Many times we have a assaulted or somebody whose life has been taken and then we try to find out where this person is. It's flipped this time. Now we have what I believe is now the suspect -- we need to find Kelly."
Swanson said anyone with information should call 911.