The family of a missing Michigan woman has gotten their wish as prosecutors upgrade charges against her ex-boyfriend to first-degree murder.
DeAndre Booker, 32 of Roseville, had been held by police since Jan. 8 on a charge of lying to investigators in relation to the disappearance of Ashley Elkins. Friday morning, the charges were upgraded to first-degree murder, CBS Detroit reported.
Elkins, 30, vanished on Jan. 2 without a trace until police located her car five days later. Elkins's car was found a few miles from Booker's home without its license plate.
Elkins was a hairstylist with a home salon. On Dec. 31, 2024, Booker scheduled an appointment with her, and when he showed up, she did not answer the door, WDIV-4 reported. The station reported that Elkins told everyone in the house to be quiet until Booker left.
Following a police search of Booker's apartment and it's trash dumpters the family released the following statement: "What they indicated was there was substantial evidence collected at the home of the ex-boyfriend and they also indicated that based upon that evidence that Ashley was murdered. They don't have her body at this time. They do have good leads where her body is."
While Booker was being held on the lying to investigators charge, police began scouring Pine Tree landfill, which accepts trash from across southeastern Michigan. The search effort was focused on a 6.5-acre area with volunteers from 14 different police agencies sifting through two inches of trash at at time, making repeated passes over the area.
Despite those efforts, which spanned several days, Elkins's body was not found.
"To hear that they've concluded the search without success is very disappointing for the family. They were looking for closure," Elkins' Uncle Maurice Morton told WXYZ-7. "Now we're calling on the prosecutor's office to get the murder charges levied against DeAndre Booker. It's our understanding that there is still plenty of evidence in the case, so we're looking forward to those charges coming hopefully soon. Hopefully, this week," Morton told the station.
