Prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they have filed murder charges against the boyfriend of a Michigan woman missing since 2022.
WOOD reported that Carlos Watts Jr., 38, confessed to striking Heather Kelley, 35, in the head with a blunt object and disposing of her body in a dumpster. Kelley was last seen alive in December 2022, and Watts had long been considered a person of interest in her disappearance.
“That cooperative witness told investigators that after Heather disappeared, Carlos admitted to the witness that he ‘got rid of the (expletive),” an affidavit alleged.
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Kelley was last seen in the Comstock Township area on December 10, 2022, a day before her burnt car was located about three miles from where surveillance cameras caught her on camera. WOOD reported that blood was found on the front and back seats.
Kelley’s remains have not been found. Before her disappearance, she reportedly called her eight children and told them she would be home soon.
Authorities claimed that Kelley’s phone placed her near a Kalamazoo club where Watts worked at. Surveillance cameras reportedly filmed Watts getting into Kelley’s car after work, and cell phone data suggests they were together for more than an hour.
According to WOOD, both Kelley and Watts’ phones were cut off near Western Michigan University’s campus. Authorities said Watts’ phone eventually turned back on but Kelley’s did not.
Additionally, Watts was allegedly filmed walking from Kelley’s car to a Kalamazoo halfway house where he lived. Watts reportedly told residents at the halfway house that Kelley caused the scratches on his body.
Authorities also stated that at the time of Kelley’s disappearance, Watts was on parole for a 2010 drug conspiracy case which also involved a murder-for-hire plot. A tether Watts was ordered to wear was inactive for several hours the night Kelley disappeared, WOOD reported.
Watts cut off his tether and fled the halfway house after police questioned him about Kelley’s disappearance. The incident sparked a two-hour standoff in Battle Creek which resulted in his arrest on federal charges. Sentencing in that case is scheduled for Friday.
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[Featured image: Carlos Watts Jr., Heather Kelley/Portage Police Department]
