MSP Search Marsh for Dee Ann Warner

Michigan State Police search for Dee Ann Warner. Photo by Kathryn Adams.

Yesterday, Judge Sala of Lenawee County Probate Court declared Dee Ann Warner legally deceased. Dee was reported missing April 25, 2021, the day after she planned to tell her husband, Dale Warner, she wanted a divorce. It was her adult children – not Dale – who called the authorities. Dale wanted to wait.

This morning, Michigan State Police (MSP) searched a boggy marshland near the Tecumseh, Michigan farm and home of the Warner’s – less than a mile from where Dee was last seen. Before noon, MSP’s Marine Services Team joined in the hunt for evidence. They concluded the search in the afternoon.

Dale Warner was arrested in November 2023, for the murder of Dee Ann Warner and tampering with evidence. Dale is awaiting his trial in the Lenawee County Jail. He is being held on a 15-million-dollar bond. Dale maintains his innocence and Dee’s body has not been recovered.

Today, MSP focused on a swampy area owned by Dale and Dee’s neighbors. This marks the second time this year MSP has done a property search for Dee. On January 24, 2024, MSP searched around the Warner’s chemical barn until well after dark.

In the days following Dee’s disappearance, volunteers assisted the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office in combing the acreage surrounding the Warner farm. Dale did not join in on the search.

Dale told law enforcement he believed Dee had left him and took off to Jamaica or Mexico. He claimed Dee left her large diamond ring on his desk and showed it to Dee’s daughter. Now, the ring is missing.

In the fall of 2021, Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office teamed up with MSP and the FBI and searched the Warner farm with drones and cadaver dogs. In May 2023, MSP conducted an extensive three-day search of thousands of acres of farmland Dale and Dee either owned or leased using heat sensors and cadaver dogs. One area of interest was property where Dale had dug a huge pit to dispose of a dilapidated house and Quonset barn.

Kathryn Adams, lifelong friend of Dee, said, “The Michigan State Police are doing their due diligence. They are dotting all their I’s and crossing their T’s. We are very happy with their efforts today.”

Dee has been missing almost three years and the quest to get justice has been agonizing for Dee’s family and friends. From the beginning, they suspected foul play and have been determined to see the party or parties responsible held accountable.

Dee’s friends and family insist her world revolved around her family. Dee loved being a mother and grandmother. When she vanished, she was 52 years old. Her phone, Apple watch, and bank accounts have been idle, and her vehicles did not leave the property.

If you have any knowledge as to the circumstances of Dee Ann Warner’s disappearance, please call the Michigan State Police tip line at 885-MICHTIP (855) 642-4847.

For more information on Dee Ann Warner, you can start here. To get the latest updates on the case, join the Justice for Dee Facebook page. If you have an opinion on the case, I’d love to read it in the comments!