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Crime News Breaking News

Remains Of Missing Teen Found Buried On Michigan Property, Homeowner Now Person of Interest

The remains of teenager Brynn Bills are believed to have been discovered in a shallow grave on property owned by Joshua Wirgau.

By Gina Tron
They Died Too Young: Teen Victims of Homicide

The remains of a missing Michigan teenager have been apparently discovered in a grave near a man’s house.

Operating on a tip, the Michigan State Police executed a search warrant on a property in rural Alpena Township on Tuesday morning, where they discovered human remains believed to be that of Brynn Bills, 18, a Michigan State Police press release states.

“The tip led us to an area where we had seen that there was some fresh dirt and something that looked like it had been dug up recently,” MSP 1st Lt. John Grimshaw told reporters at a Wednesday press conference.

He said the body was buried in a shallow grave.

“Today we are no longer investigating Brynn Bills as a missing person,” Grimshaw said. “Unfortunately, we are now investigating her as a suspicious death.”

The cause of death has yet to be determined. An autopsy and toxicology report is pending.

Brynn Bills

The property where Bills was apparently found belongs to Joshua Wirgau, 34. 

“He is a person of interest, obviously,” Grimshaw told reporters. “He is the homeowner where there was a deceased body that was found on it, so he is a person of interest.”

The teen’s best friend Jessica Eaves told local outlet WBKB that Bills "was friends with with someone who was close with him."

“The only thing that comes to my head is trusting the wrong people,” she said.

Wirgau is currently being held without bond in the Alpena County Jail on separate charges of unlawful Imprisonment and felonious assault from an unrelated incident that occurred earlier this week, according to the state police.

Grimshaw said there are additional persons of interest but he would not elaborate.

Bills was reported missing in late August. She was last heard from on Aug. 3.

“All contact with everyone after the third was cut off; her phone was never turned on after the third,” Eaves previously told WBKB. “And, basically, trying to track where she went has been impossible. Like she went ghost after the third.”

The family of Bills updated her GoFundMe on Wednesday, noting that this was “not what we hoped for.”

“Our beautiful Brynn is now a beautiful angel,” they stated.

Anyone with any information is urged to call the MSP Alpena Post at 989-354-4101.