Dee Ann Warner: Former Lead Detective Appears in Court

Dee Ann Warner. Photo courtesy of Parker Hardy.

In 2021, Dee Ann Warner was a missing person. In 2024, Dee’s remains were found in a 10,000-gallon anhydrous ammonia tank once used by her husband, Dale Warner, for his fertilizing business. Dale Warner is preparing his defense for the looming murder trial scheduled January 27, 2026. Now, the prosecution is accusing the original lead detective of Dee’s case of evading attempts to subpoena him to testify.

A bench warrant was issued in October for the arrest of Retired Detective Kevin Greca, formally of the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office. He is a material witness in the murder case against Dale Warner. Last week, Greca was arrested in Ohio by U.S. Marshals. He was released from custody on a $50K surety bond.

Today, in Lenawee County Circuit Court, Greca appeared with his attorney, Ashley Hanson-Grimes. One of the bond conditions is that Greca is not allowed to leave the state of Michigan. Ms. Hanson-Grimes asked Judge Olsaver to consider removing that condition. She said Greca has been living locally for over 20 years. “I want it to be very clear that he was not fleeing in any capacity. He was out to dinner in Ohio when your order was executed upon him,” Hanson-Grimes said.

Hanson-Grimes continued to insist Greca had no indication the prosecution was trying to locate him, “This idea that he is a fugitive and that he’s been labeled by the media is completely abhorrent to me.” She said, going forward, Greca would fully cooperate with the county prosecutor and Dale Warner’s attorneys.

According to Hanson-Grimes, Greca paid 10% of his $50K surety bond – money he will not be able to get back – proof Greca is cooperating.

The prosecutor, Jacqueline Wyse, said, “The fact that he has hired an attorney, and he has appeared today does go a long way, but it doesn’t change the fact that we had to look for him for eight months. And he was in Ohio for a period of time. It wasn’t just to go out to dinner.”

Wyse asked the court to make a bond condition for Greca to notify the court if he changes his address or phone number.

Dale Warner’s attorney, Mary Chartier, weighed in. “I think that Retired Detective Greca has acknowledged service of the subpoena. To my knowledge, there's never been an issue with him not attending court before. He's retained counsel who is aggressively representing him. If the bonding agency continues to require that Mr. Greca remain in the state of Michigan, but the court is unwilling to remove that condition, then one thing is the court could do is convert the bond to a PR bond. So that way, there would be no bonding agency involved at all to put any restrictions on Mr. Greca and then it would just be restrictions by the court,” Chartier said.

Judge Olsaver responded with, “The court has never at any point tried to or even intimated that Detective Greca was a fugitive from justice.”

Judge Olsaver didn’t give Greca orders not to leave the state of Michigan. The conditions were set by the bond agency and Olsaver doesn’t have the authority to alter them. Olsaver chose not to change the bond from a surety bond to a PR (Personal Recognizance) bond, which leaves the conditions of the bond in the hands of the bond agency.

This afternoon, Gregg Hardy, Dee Warner’s brother, reacted to today’s hearing. “It’s very unusual to have an experienced professional obviously running from being a witness for eight months. The one question I wish would have been asked in court is, ‘Why?’”

Retired Det. Kevin Greca was the lead detective on Dee Warner’s missing person case until it was turned over to Michigan State Police in August 2022.

Dee Warner’s remains were found in August 2024.

Greca retired from the Lenawee County Sheriff's Department in August 2024.

For more information on Dee's case, you can start here. To get up-to-date information, join the Justice for Dee Facebook page.