(WWJ) – As deer season begins next week in Michigan, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson is hoping hunters will be able to help in the search for Kelly McWhirter.
Police believe McWhirter, 60, was killed by her husband, 57-year-old Steven Higgins, who fatally shot himself in the head when confronted by police on Oct. 18 at a home in Montrose in the days after her disappearance.
With an investigation that spans from Ohio to Ogemaw County in Northern Michigan, Swanson said investigators have spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours, putting together the pieces in an effort to find McWhirter’s body.
In a press conference Wednesday Swanson called on deer hunters across the state, especially in Ogemaw County, near Prescott, where Higgins is believed to have visited not long after the murder.
“We need the assistance of every Michigan hunter that’s gonna hit the fields, like the greatest search party ever on Nov. 15,” Swanson said, noting some 40,000 hunters will be out in the fields on opening day.
He said hunters should be looking out for any possible two-tracks, roads or small ditches where Higgins may have driven his truck before disposing of her body. Swanson said officials found digging tools in the back of the 2009 gray Ford pickup truck, though test results on the dirt have not come back.
“To anybody out there who is going up to their hunting blinds for the first time, we’re looking for something that looks disturbed. I know we had a leaf drop, but most people know their property well enough that if they see ruts, if they see anything unusual… certainly call 911,” he said. “If you’re back in the field and you don’t wanna lose your spot, just do something to mark it and we’ll work with the Ogemaw County Sheriff, we’ll send a car to secure it and we’ll be up there as well.”
McWhirter and Higgins were both initially reported missing on Oct. 14, but the case soon took a grim turn, in what Swanson called "domestic violence at its highest level."
"When we started this on Monday of this week, it was 'where is Kelly?'" Swanson said live on WWJ in October. "She didn't report to work, she didn't call friends back. We couldn't find her phone when we went to the house and we saw that things were undisturbed, but unusual."
Authorities eventually got multiple search warrants and found “a significant amount of blood” both in the home and in the back of her car. The next day Higgins killed himself during the encounter with police, who then found a number of shovels, fresh dirt and a bloody body bag.
Officials said last month the suspected murder weapon has been recovered, but they did not specify what it was.
Swanson said Wednesday the FBI is working to reconstruct Higgins’ phone, which he had smashed, along with the GPS monitoring system in his truck in an attempt to not be tracked. That process is expected to be completed in the next week or so, Swanson said.
A tipster told police Higgins went to the area around Skidway Lake near Prescott, and Swanson believes it was “intentional,” so they’ve been investigating in that city. In particular, one business owner has helped police by going door-to-door, gathering as much video evidence as possible.
Investigators have uncovered a number of strange Google searches in Higgins’ search history, including “How far do you have to bury a phone to not be tracked by electronic surveillance devices,” Swanson said Wednesday.
Other searches included “Is it legal to camp on state land without a permit?” and “What’s the definition of avenge?”
Anyone who knows something about McWhirter’s presumed death is asked to call the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office.