New details have emerged in connection to a missing Michigan wife, who was reported missing and endangered Wednesday.
According to ABC 12, the search for 60-year-old Kelly McWhirter is now a criminal investigation after police found a “significant amount of blood” inside her Flushing residence. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson said that “there was likely violence inside the home, where Kelly lived with her husband, 57-year-old Steven Higgins.
“We are hopeful, and we are praying for a safe recovery,” Swanson said. “I will tell you that the likelihood of a violent confrontation is high. We are going to bring justice one way or another.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Swanson, who called McWhirter a “beautiful soul,” said investigators fear that Higgins or someone associated with him may have harmed McWhirter sometimes between Saturday and Tuesday.
The investigation into her disappearance began October 16 when she didn’t show up for work at the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office. They put out a missing persons report for both Higgins and McWhirter when they couldn’t find either of them.
On Wednesday, a Saginaw County resident contacted police to report seeing Higgins’ Ford F-150 pickup truck close to Montrose. Police then performed a routine traffic stop at the Elms Road and Wheeler Drive, and identified Higgins as the driver.
Higgins reportedly spotted the police approaching, then made a few hand gestures before pulling out a gun and shooting himself. Swanson said first responders rushed him to the Hurley Medical Center, where he was pronounced brain dead Wednesday.
Investigators searched the couple’s home over the weekend, off Luce Street, and determined someone had tried to partially clean up the bloody scene. They found McWhirter’s 2022 Hyundai Tucson parked in the driveway with signs of struggle inside the vehicle.
Cellphone records indicate that Higgins drove his wife’s vehicle at some point over the weekend to a home in Norwalk, Ohio. Swanson said they are now working with the FBI, along with law enforcement in Norwalk.
Neighbor Mandy St. Cin said that she was stunned to learn police found blood inside the couple’s home, adding that she would have never expected it to happen.
“I didn’t expect it to be my neighbors for sure,” St. Cin told ABC 12. “I didn’t expect anything bad to happen.”
Anyone who saw either of the couple’s vehicles between Saturday and Tuesday to contact police. Swanson said any bit of information could possibly help locate McWhirter.
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[Feature Photo: Kelly McWhirter and Steven Higgins/Genesee County Sheriff’s Office]
