A 25-year-old Bedford Township man is facing open murder charges in the case of his missing girlfriend.
Derek Depree Horton was arraigned Monday on the charge as police continue the search for Amber Griffin.
The 27-year-old woman was reported missing last week from the couple's home at Creek Valley Mobile Home Park in Bedford Township. Detective Sgt. Joel Case of the Battle Creek Police Department said Monday morning that investigators believe she is dead.
"She did not show or call at work. She hasn't checked in with family. Her phone and wallet and insulin are at the trailer, and it has been better than a week. We are saying that she is dead because nothing has happened that would happen if she was alive," Case said.
He and Major Steve Bush said detectives have found blood and other evidence suggesting she was beaten at a house on Oneita Street sometime Monday.
Bush said witnesses reported seeing her and Horton at the house and investigators also found evidence of a struggle.
Police said the couple has a history of domestic violence. Court records show Horton was charged in 2019 and 2020 with assaults on Griffin but those charges were dismissed.
At his arraignment Monday, Magistrate Amber Straub noted that Horton has 16 prior misdemeanors, many of them driving offenses, and the two dismissed charges as well as drug and gun charges as a juvenile.
"I have never been convicted of a violent crime, ever," Horton told the court.
Defense attorney Scott Coleman of the public defender's office entered a not guilty plea on the homicide charge and argued for a cash bond. If Horton is convicted, the charge carries a mandatory life sentence without parole.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Buscher said Horton has failed to appear in previous cases and because of his "criminal history, failure to appear, total disregard for the law and the nature of the charges we are asking for no bond."
A preliminary hearing is scheduled July 28 before Judge Tracie Tomak.
Both Horton and Griffin's mother reported Griffin missing on Wednesday, and Horton told police he last saw her Monday.
"He is saying he last saw her Monday night at the trailer," Case said, "but we have information from numerous witnesses that he was with her at other locations that night that discredit his story of the last time seeing her."
Horton was arrested Friday on charges of domestic assault and interfering with a call to 911.
Case said detectives told him Saturday they were seeking charges of homicide and met with Prosecutor David Gilbert over the weekend and on Monday, when the homicide charge was authorized.
In the meantime police are seeking help as they continue the search for Griffin.
Case said a Michigan State Police helicopter was called in Saturday along with cadaver dogs and members of Battle Creek Search and Rescue who joined with Battle Creek police and the woman's family to search several areas
Case said property around the Oneita Street address and at a vacant home on Waubascon Road were searched over the weekend and police were back Monday morning.
Police are asking anyone who saw Horton or has information to call investigators.
"We have video of him purchasing a shovel at Mix Hardware on Capital Avenue Northeast (Tuesday afternoon) the day after she went missing. It was before he reported her missing," Case said, adding that he may have buried the body.
Horton was driving a 2003 black Chevrolet Impala, Case said. Police are asking anyone who might have seen something suspicious to report it.
"The areas we have searched, we have exhausted," Bush said. "If someone can just point us in the right direction."
Anyone with information is asked to call police dispatchers at (269) 781-0911 or Silent Observer at (269) 964-3888.
Contact Trace Christenson at 269-966-0685 or tchrist@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @TSChristenson
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June 30, 2020 at 01:30AM
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Boyfriend charged with murder in the case of missing Bedford Township woman - Battle Creek Enquirer
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