In 2016, April 16th was the first perfect day of spring in rural Muskegon County Michigan.



By 9:00 that Saturday morning, it was 62 degrees and already the warmest day of the season by far. And 53-year-old Dawn Schmidt was among those taking advantage of these glorious conditions.



Making herself a steaming cup of morning coffee, she carried it outside to her back deck and sipped away, staring at the forest, and enjoying the refreshing sunshine.



But then…she heard something strange.



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Research & Writing:

Ryan Deininger



Editing:

Aiden Wolf



Sources:

People v. Willis

Jessica Heeringa Trial

Rebekah Bletsch Trial

Fox17

Fox17 #2

911 of couple who found Bletsch

Scribd.com Partial Court Transcript

Law and Crime Network 

MLive.com #1

MLive.com #2

Detroit Free Press

Pick Me Up

Disappeared Blog

Woodtv.com