As the investigation for 14-year-old April Millsap’s killer continues, Michigan police revealed April’s last text to her boyfriend was “Omg. … I think I’m being kidnapped.”
Michigan State Police Lt. Michael Shaw told The Detroit Free Press, “We don’t know who sent it — if it was April, if it was the killer, or someone else.”
April was murdered when walking her dog in a small town north of Detroit last Thursday. She was discovered in a drainage ditch later that evening by two walkers, who were led to her body by the slain teen’s frantic Border Collie.
“The dog protected the body, stayed with the body, actually moved in and out,” Armada Police Chief Howard Smith told The Free Press. The people “went by the dog the first time, thinking the dog may be coming after them. When they came back the other way on the trail and the dog was still there that made the people curious.”
Chief Smith said he couldn’t recall the last time the town of 1,700 had a homicide. The community is especially devastated by the loss of a young woman who was prepared to enter high school in the fall.
“A child (death) is particularly more heartbreaking to us,” said Lt. Shaw. “I don’t want to say a detective works harder on a crime because it’s a child, but I think we all know deep down inside that that’s probably true.”
April was described by friends and family as a beautiful young lady who had a smile “that would lighten up the day.” More than $10,000 has been donated via GoFundMe to help cover the family’s funeral expenses.
Police have since ruled out April’s boyfriend and family as suspects. Investigators released a sketch of a “person of interest” on Sunday, saying he was seen on the trail around the time of her death.
Authorities haven’t revealed how April was killed, but said she wasn’t stabbed or shot. There is “no indication” she was sexually assaulted.
