ROSEVILLE (WWJ) Dozens gathered for a candlelight vigil for missing Warren mother, Ashley Elkins.
Her loved ones, and those there to support them, released a sea of purple and green balloons into the sky.
“Justice for Ashley!” they called out, as the balloons floated away.
The vigil was held at sunset on Saturday, January 25— outside of the Roseville apartment complex where her cellphone last pinged.
The Hampton Courts apartment complex on Pinehurst, in the area of Frazho and Gratiot, was the home of her ex boyfriend, Deandre Booker.
Elkins, 30, was last seen on January 2nd after she left her home to run errands.
Police suspected foul play. They arrested Booker and charged him with lying to police.
“I would have never known he would be that type of person,” Elkins’ mother said of Booker while speaking to WWJ’s Darrylin Horne. “When I said I loved and cared about him, and that he was part of my family, he was. What changed, I don’t know.”
Booker, 32, has been charged (with lying to police), but not convicted, in connection to Elkins’ disappearance. He is due back in court on January 29th.
Roseville Police, along with about a dozen other agencies, launched the search for Elkins' remains at Pine Tree Acres Landfill in Lenox Township on January 13th.
They searched Booker’s home, including confiscating a trash dumpster. They also recovered Elkins’ car at 13 Mile and Little Mack.
Roseville Police ended the search of the landfill on January 20th, one week after it started— her family saying in a statement it “concluded without success.”
Police presume her dead.
“She was an angel,” Elkins' mother said. “It’s a loss to all of us.”
Ashley’s disappearance leaves two young boys, 7 and 10, grieving and missing their mother.
An online fundraiser was set up to help provide for them.
“Ashley LaShay Elkins had big dreams for herself and her two young sons. Tragically, those dreams were cut short on January 2, 2025,” the GoFundMe reads. “Now…her boys face not only the loss of their beloved mother, but also uncertainty about their care and their future.”