ST. CHARLES, Mich. (WWJ) – Police believe they have found the body of Kelly McWhirter, the Genesee County woman who went missing more than a month ago.
Authorities 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.
On Wednesday Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson said police found a badly decomposed body in St. Charles, Mich. — about 15 miles southwest of Saginaw.
While officials are still working to identify the body with DNA and dental tests — which will take several days — Swanson said he believes the discovery "closes the chapter."
Around 1:20 p.m. Wednesday a 911 call came in from a hunter who was training his bird dog in the area of Ryan and Shannon Roads in St. Charles. The hunter told police the dog "indicated a badly decomposed body," Swanson said.
"We believe that that body is one of Kelly McWhirter," Swanson said in a video posted to the sheriff's office's Facebook page. "There was significant trauma to the body, there were clothing matches that indicate the last known that Kelly had on that day, Oct. 14."
McWhirter and Higgins were both initially reported missing in mid-October, 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.
Earlier this month Swanson called on hunters to be on the lookout for McWhirter's body as they took to the fields on opening day of firearm deer season. At the time, investigators were focusing on an area near Prescott, Mich. — a small village in Ogemaw County near West Branch.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WWJ Newsradio 950 for the latest updates as they become available.
