Latest / The Mind of a Man / He Thought No One Would Find Her_ The Murder of Dee Warner [True Crime Documentary]

Transcript

He Thought No One Would Find Her_ The Murder of Dee Warner [True Crime Documentary] · The Mind of a Man

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Deanne Warner went missing in April 2021. For years, her
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: disappearance was a source of mystery and heartache for the
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: community she had been a part of her whole life.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Dee's last sighting had been at her home, at the
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: farmhouse where she and her family lived and worked. It
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: was there that search efforts focused. Just as authorities began
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: to accept that they may have to pursue justice without
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: all of the answers, they made a shocking discovery. Hi there,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: I'm Kevin and welcome to Just Thought Lounge. Today's case
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: has been years in the making. It's a fascinating one
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: that begins with nothing but suspicion and clever deduction, then
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: builds piece after piece before finally reaching an undeniable conclusion.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Let's take a look. The Warner family farm is based
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: in the small community of Tipton in Lenawee County, Michigan.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: In early 2021, the operation off of Munger Road was
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: a large one. Friends and employees worked roughly 3,000 acres,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: some land directly owned by the Warner family and some rented.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Dale and Deanne Warner were not just a farming family.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Over the years, they had established multiple companies, the most
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: notable a successful trucking business, which pulled in millions in
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: revenue each year. The couple had come to enjoy many
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: of the finer things in life, including foreign vacations and
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: high-end vehicles. Dee had even invested in a second home
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: on Sand Lake along with one of her adult sons,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: which they affectionately called the Lake House or the Cedar
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Point Property. Dale and Dee lived at the Munger farmhouse
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: with their nine-year-old daughter, Angelina, or just Lena for short.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: They both had adult children from their previous marriages who
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: visited frequently. A few even worked with them on the property.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: On Sunday, April 25th, 2021, Dee's daughter, Raquel, arrived at
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: the farmhouse to meet her mother for their regular Sunday
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: brunch and shopping date. Except when Raquel arrived, Dee wasn't
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: at home. Calls to her cell phone went straight to voicemail.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Text messages went unanswered. That morning, Raquel and her brothers,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: TJ and Zach, searched the farm for signs of their mother.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: They contacted her personal assistant, Stephanie, who had not heard
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: from her either. When Dale was contacted, he suggested that
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Dee was taking some time to herself. The night before,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: she had a disagreement with two of the truck drivers.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: one of whom subsequently quit, and the other she had fired. Traditionally,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: when Dee needed space, she went to the lake house.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: But Zach had already checked. His mother was not there.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Even more concerning was that Dee was rarely separated from
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: her youngest daughter, Lena. The evening before, Dee had made
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: arrangements for Lena to stay with her cousin, and she
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: had not picked her up the next morning. Growing more
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: and more worried, Raquel and brother TJ contacted the police.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: It was a Lenawee County Sheriff's deputy who arrived at
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: the property to speak with Dale. As far as it
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: could be ascertained at that point, the 53-year-old farmer was
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: the last person to see or speak with Dee.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: Are you Dale?
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: Excellent.
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: All right, so I hear your wife is missing.
• 3:59
  Speaker 5: Well, I don't know if she's missing or if she.
• 4:01
  Speaker 6: Just left, so.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Dale further explained how he came to discover that many
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: of Dee's personal items were missing. These included her wallet,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: cell phone, makeup, and what he called her go-bag. a
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: pre-packed bag that she kept ready to leave for overnight stays.
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: Your mom's not there.
• 4:36
  Speaker 6: She was just there, you know, an hour or two ago.
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: She said, no, she's not here. I said, well, I'll
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: be done spraying in.
• 4:44
  Speaker 6: Here shortly and I'll be back.
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: So about, I don't know, half an hour, 45 minutes later,
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: I got back here.
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: And I went in the house, and she was gone.
• 5:02
  Speaker 6: And I walked around in the house, went in the.
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: Bathroom while her hair curler was gone, her hair dryer
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: was gone, her makeup.
• 5:11
  Speaker 6: Bag was gone, and she has a gold.
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: Bag packed all the time.
• 5:17
  Speaker 8: I mean, this isn't the first time she's left. Usually
• 5:20
  Speaker 8: she takes off and goes to her son's house and
• 5:22
  Speaker 8: stays there the day.
• 5:24
  Speaker 6: Or so in her bag.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: It was unclear how Dee may have left the property.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: The Cadillac, which she usually drove, was still in the garage.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: The second vehicle, a Hummer, was parked at the office building,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: a short distance from the house. In the office, resting
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: on the top of his desk, Dale came across one
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: item that Dee had left behind, her $ 50, 000 wedding ring.
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: I don't know what else to do other than wait
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: a day or so and see what.
• 6:06
  Speaker 6: This isn't the first time she's done this, guys.
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: But the only thing that's really strange, too, is this time.
• 6:27
  Speaker 8: She put her wedding ring in my dad's office.
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: She's never done that before.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Dale told the deputy that he was concerned, but not
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: yet alarmed, by Dee's absence. Those who knew the 52-year-old
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: mother and business owner described her as warm-hearted, but tempestuous.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Dee could be quickly angered and had a tendency to overreact.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: It may not have been typical for her to disappear,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: but it was not unheard of for her to seek
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: out attention. What's more, Dale suggested that she was in
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: fact in contact with someone.
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: Get your phone out of her head or is she
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: never without it?
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: Never without it, but I told the other kids she's
• 7:13
  Speaker 6: got a second phone. She doesn't let anybody know she's
• 7:16
  Speaker 6: got another phone. Do you have a phone number?
• 7:19
  Speaker 8: No, it's a secret phone that she doesn't know that
• 7:22
  Speaker 8: I know she has it.
• 7:23
  Speaker 4: Why would she hear it?
• 7:24
  Speaker 9: I have no idea.
• 7:25
  Speaker 6: I haven't confronted her about it because I didn't want
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: the conversation. But I know she has another.
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: Phone.
• 7:32
  Speaker 6: The way she left, she.
• 7:32
  Speaker 8: Doesn't want anybody to know where she's at. So, I mean,
• 7:38
  Speaker 8: obviously she knows what she's doing because we can't find her.
• 7:41
  Speaker 10: Right, right.
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: No, I get that. Yeah, absolutely.
• 7:45
  Speaker 6: All right, I'll clear out of here, and if she
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: does show up, please give us a call.
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: Okay, you got a card? Yes, I'll give you that.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: While her husband speculated that her absence was due to
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: nothing more than another attention-seeking emotional outburst, Dee's children felt differently.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: Days passed, and there was no sign of her whereabouts.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Her bank accounts were inactive, her social media silent. Dee's
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: passport was found to be missing along with her driver's license.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: There was no activity on her missing cell phone. Investigators
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: could find no record of her owning a second one.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: Dale claimed that up to $ 100, 000 that had been tucked
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: away in one of their family's safes was now missing. However,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: a large quantity of cash that Dee had kept hidden
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: in the drawer of her desk in the office, which
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: her husband had not been aware of, was still there.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Her son, Zach, who worked as the family's bookkeeper, was
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: the only other person who knew she kept it there.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: With Dale's consent, searches were undertaken at the farm. At
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: the house, investigators saw nothing further to raise red flags,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: except a single, potentially incriminating observation. Outside a rear door
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: of the farmhouse, which led from the living room, investigators
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: noted large tire tracks. They were a match to the
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: JCB front loader that Dale had been driving around on
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: the morning of Dee's disappearance. It appeared that the JCB
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: had been parked directly in front of the wall of
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: the house, such that the loader sat in front of
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: the living room door. An odd way to park unless
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: one planned to move a heavy object from the house. Indeed,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: it was odd to park that piece of equipment next
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: to the house at all. This was the area usually
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: reserved for the family vehicles. The Hummer was usually there
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Since the home was also a large working farm and
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: the headquarters to a substantial trucking business, there were employees
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: coming and going at all hours. As investigators inquired, they
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: found one employee who was on the property in the
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: early morning hours of April 25th, the day Dee went missing.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: That witness said they saw the Hummer Park by the
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: living room door, as it always was. They did not
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: go to the house, but noticed, curiously, that the lights
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: were on inside. That was at roughly 3.45 a.m. As
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: teams combed the property, Dale sat down to speak with
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: police once again, at length. He explained that the night
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: before she allegedly left him, Dee had been itching for
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: an argument. Dale was not the only person to tell
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: police that Dee had been visibly upset that weekend. When
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: her sister-in-law Amy arrived at the house to collect Lena
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: on Saturday, she found Dee disheveled, her face red and
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: swollen as though she had been crying. She was planning
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: to have a serious talk with her husband that night,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: and that was why she wanted her young daughter out
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: of the house. Dale conceded that they did indeed argue
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: that night. In his view, this was why his wife
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: chose to leave.
• 11:17
  Speaker 8: Dale recounted again how he discovered the wedding ring on
• 11:25
  Speaker 8: his desk that morning.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Then he speculated that Dee had awoken that morning, grabbed
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: her bags and other personal items, driven over to the
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: office in the Hummer, and left her ring. There was
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: a tracker on the vehicle, however, one that had been
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: installed ostensibly to track diagnostics, but that could also be
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: used to trace the vehicle's location on GPS through an app,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: which was linked to Dale's phone.
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: I think she was carrying her, but I thought there
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: was still a tracker in it.
• 12:05
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I think she was.
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: She knew that this one could be tracked.
• 12:09
  Speaker 5: She went on this one, and then she.
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: Pulled out, went down there, put the ring in my desk,
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: went back.
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: Out, and said, oh, fuck, you can contract this, too.
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: Because it wasn't where I go.
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: So in theory, I'm talking off the cuff, I guess.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: I mean, I don't know any of this stuff.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: When Dale found his ring, he was with Zach in
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: the office, accessing the farm's security cameras to check for
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: any sign of Dee. These cameras were arranged around the property,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: mostly to capture employees' movements. The cameras did not show
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Dee leaving, nor did they show her at the office.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: They did not show her movements at all, including any
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: vehicle that may have arrived to collect her. The cameras did, however,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: offer some insight into Dale's movements the day his wife disappeared.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Dale was certain that he awoke and left the house
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: for work at around 6 to 6.30 a.m. At that time,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Dee was asleep on the couch downstairs where she had
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: been all night. Dale is shown moving liquid fertilizer around 7.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: He used the JCB front loader to move the fertilizer,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: taking a couple of trips from one outbuilding to another area.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: When Dale finished with the loader that morning, he parked
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: it by the house. When he did so, he told
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: detectives that he walked through the living room and saw Dee,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: still fast asleep, on the couch. Based on the timestamp
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: of the footage, he was done with the loader just
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: before 7.30am. Then he performed some standard chores around the property,
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: driving around the small orange Kubota. Dale left in the
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: sprayer before 8am. Then he returned and left again in
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: the same piece of machinery at about 8.40. He was
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: spraying a field a short drive away when Raquel arrived
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: at the house to meet her mother. According to his
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: version of events, Dale first became aware that his wife
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: was missing at around 9.30 or even 10, when a
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: call from Stephanie, Dee's assistant, informed him that Dee's children
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: were gathering at the house because no one could reach her.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: At this stage, there was no concrete evidence linking Dee's
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: disappearance to her husband, but they were working on it.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: The Lenawee County Sheriff's Office called in the Michigan State Police,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: who took the lead in the investigation. While Dale maintained
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: that Dee had up and left, her family insisted that
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: there was simply no way that she would choose to
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: do so. The two sides of this blended family, both
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: with long roots in the farming community, had always been
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: at odds with each other. But now that rift had
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: widened into a gulf. Dale took over operation of the businesses.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: including the profitable trucking company that had been solely in
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Dee's name. He instructed Zach to stop issuing a paycheck
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: to his mother. In his efforts to move on, Dale
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: was supported by his adult children. In particular, his then
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: 24-year-old son, Jaron, to whom he gave power of attorney
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: and temporary custody of Lena should the need arise. That
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: would be required, of course, should he be arrested for
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: his wife's murder.
• 15:26
  Speaker 11: As time goes on, we are more and more concerned
• 15:30
  Speaker 11: about her safety as obviously Mother's Day passed and she
• 15:37
  Speaker 11: was not around and didn't make contact with anybody.
• 15:40
  Speaker 12: Well, I think they're lying.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: 100%.
• 15:42
  Speaker 12: I think that's their only possibility of a narrative that
• 15:48
  Speaker 12: they think they can try to turn the public on
• 15:50
  Speaker 12: to think that the story of theirs about her vanishing
• 15:53
  Speaker 12: is was anywhere even possibly something that logical people could believe.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: In October 2021, further extensive searches took place at the
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: Munger Farm under the supervision of the MSP and with
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: the assistance of federal agencies, including the FBI. They brought
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: in police dogs and used ground-penetrating radar technology to mark
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: off areas to perform more invasive searches. Areas of the
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: fields were dug up. Teams appeared to concentrate for a
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: time on the land adjacent to the farmhouse plot, but
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: ultimately nothing of value to the investigation was uncovered. The
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: following spring in March 2022, new search warrants were issued.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: This time they came alongside the announcement of an award
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: offered by Dee's brother, Greg Hardy, $ 50, 000 for any information
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: that led to his sister's location. Dale Warner was once
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: again questioned by police. He began by implying that Dee's
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: children were the ones acting suspiciously.
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: This is weirder than weird to me.
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: Dee's been gone an hour to two hours, and the
• 17:10
  Speaker 5: kids are here all the pain, and she's left countless times.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: This is weird.
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: And then Zach's in the office going through the security cameras, trying.
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: To figure out where his mom and dad are.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: MSP investigators seemed to disregard Dale's speculation against his stepchildren.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: They believed they had caught him in a lie.
• 17:41
  Speaker 6: A big one.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: So, once again, they went through his timeline from the
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: morning of April 25th. Dale said that when he parked
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: the JCB front loader at the house around 7.30 a.m.,
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: Dee had been inside, sleeping. It was clear where the
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: loader had been parked. He was viewed driving up at
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: that time on camera. Witnesses saw it there. Tire tracks
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: had been visible. Dale himself stated that that is where
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: he had placed it. It was also well established that
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: this was the exact location where the Hummer had sat
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: for days until it was moved that morning. During the
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: interview in his kitchen, Dale stated that he believed it
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: was Dee that had driven the Hummer to the office,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: where she dropped her wedding ring on his desk before leaving.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: But if Dee was the one who moved the Hummer,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: how could she have been on the couch still sleeping
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: when he parked in its vacated space? If the Hummer
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: had been moved at that time, which it had, Dee
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: must have already left, or not been the person who
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: drove it to the office.
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: In the house and you couldn't run back in there?
• 18:47
  Speaker 6: I didn't see anyone in the house.
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: She was still sleeping.
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: Okay, she's still asleep.
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: And at this point, this seems like a silly question,
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: was anyone else on the property or in the house?
• 18:56
  Speaker 6: Not that I'm aware of.
• 18:57
  Speaker 9: Okay.
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: And she's still probably about 6, 6.30. That was my
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: next question, how long had it been? Okay.
• 19:03
  Speaker 5: Until that morning, maybe close, 6.30, 7, I mean.
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: Do you have that, um... Right here, yeah. And where
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: was the JCB part? The JCB's inside of our hair. Okay.
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: And you said you pulled up to the house? We
• 19:19
  Speaker 4: pulled up here, pulled around.
• 19:20
  Speaker 11: This way, pulled up over here.
• 19:22
  Speaker 5: I want to grab what I need in the house
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: and back down, back down through the top here.
• 19:25
  Speaker 6: Please step out of the car.
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: Move it over here.
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: Okay. Can I have some notes on here with you? Yes,
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: I will.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: Dale was presented with an aerial image of the property.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: He placed an X on the spot where he pulled
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: in the loader, then went inside and claimed to have
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: seen Dee still fast asleep. The cameras had also revealed
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: that the Hummer was moved from the spot by an
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: unnecessarily long route around the house than the more direct
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: one between the house and the office. They revealed this
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: by not capturing the Hummer move at all. Whoever drove
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: it had avoided the cameras entirely. It was not only
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Dale's movements that betrayed him. Investigators had also analyzed his
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: phone and vehicle data. They knew that Dale had attempted
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: to access the camera system through an app on his
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: phone that morning before 9 a.m. and before receiving the
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: call from Stephanie that Dee was missing.
• 20:22
  Speaker 5: I had never accessed the camera system.
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: I didn't have the code to get into it. Yeah,
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: when you did access the cameras, what were you looking for?
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: I don't know if it's a straight question, but.
• 20:31
  Speaker 6: I was looking to see, you know, what was going
• 20:34
  Speaker 6: on in that home. I didn't know where they were
• 20:35
  Speaker 6: looking to.
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: I didn't look at anything.
• 20:38
  Speaker 5: Other than when Zach was here because they had me
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: locked out.
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: At the meeting room. Okay, well, there's actually no doubt
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: you had access to cameras that morning. I'm just asking
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: what you were looking for. It's just like, I just, again,
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: we're trying to move the sheriff's department, so we just
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: need you to explain everything as silly as it sounds,
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: you know?
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: I mean, they were looking to see if what cars
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: were driving with the video.
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: Okay, and that's what you did, and you didn't access them?
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: I didn't access them.
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: Zach already had them on the screen.
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: You have access to them on your phone, correct? Yes,
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: if it'll work. And it would not work. Okay, so
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: when you tried to access the cameras, what were you doing?
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: I was looking to see who was in the office,
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: if he was on the payments.
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: Okay, so you're just looking for Deet until I'll try
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: to get to him? Yeah.
• 21:31
  Speaker 5: You don't see where she's at, but I already figured
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: she's in Zach's house.
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: Okay, and that's specifically from your thoughts that you're telling
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: me to do, right?
• 21:40
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: Okay, and is that....
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Investigators also found that Dale had accessed the doors to
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: the Cadillac, the vehicle Dee always drove, eight minutes after
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: he parked the loader and left the house.
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: Stephanie, how would you ask where Dee was?
• 21:57
  Speaker 5: I was thinking it was around 9 o'clock, 9.30.
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: Okay. And until that point, as far as you knew,
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: she was at home, right?
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: I made a.
• 22:06
  Speaker 5: Text to her, tell her about spring so that.
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: She would know her day.
• 22:09
  Speaker 7: Okay.
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: But until then, things are normally, don't go any different, right?
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: It's essentially the same thing. Why did you access the
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: Cadillac that morning? What did you want the Cadillac for
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: in the garage?
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: Access the Cadillac for.
• 22:29
  Speaker 6: I don't remember getting in.
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: The Cadillac.
• 22:36
  Speaker 7: That morning.
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: I don't remember getting in the Cadillac that morning. You
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: accessed the Cadillac. Do you believe you would have done that?
• 22:42
  Speaker 7: No.
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: I didn't get in the Cadillac that morning.
• 22:45
  Speaker 6: What would I get.
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: In it for?
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: I'm not saying you drove it. I'm just saying you
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: accessed it for some reason.
• 22:50
  Speaker 6: You don't recall why.
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: I was like, oh, accessing the Cadillac. I didn't eat anything.
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: I looked at it on my app on my phone.
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: I'm not certain what you did physically with the vehicle,
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: but you had access to the car?
• 23:04
  Speaker 5: No, because I probably looked at it on my phone
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: to see where it was at.
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: Okay. That would be accessing it. Oh, okay. I'm not
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: familiar with what you can.
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: Do with that.
• 23:11
  Speaker 7: I'm sorry.
• 23:12
  Speaker 5: I'm going to sit down and start it on my
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: phone and tell you where it's at.
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: Okay. Tell us about that. Yeah, tell us about that.
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: I'm not familiar with that. I'm just being honest.
• 23:19
  Speaker 7: I'm sorry.
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry.
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: I'm on your phone.
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: You can start your car. You can lock it and
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: do it with your phone.
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: Oh, okay. Okay, so you would have accessed that app,
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: and it tells you where the car is, and that's
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: why you would have done it, to see where she was. Yeah,
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: to see where the car is, because the car is
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: almost where she is at the moment.
• 23:36
  Speaker 13: Okay.
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: And what about when you tried to locate her iPhone?
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: For what purpose was that? To see where she's at.
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: Same thing. Everybody was trying to find her iPhone. Ah, okay. Okay.
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: And did it describe to us that when things weren't
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: comfortable between the two of you, she didn't like you
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: knowing where she was? Did she know you had access
• 23:55
  Speaker 4: to those things at the time?
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: Dale may not have recalled if or why he had
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: accessed Dee's car that morning, but the implication drawn by
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: investigators was clear. Dee was known to always keep her
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: purse with her keys, wallet, ID, and other personal items
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: on the passenger side of the Cadillac. Many of the
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: items that were now missing. And it was not her
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: phone that unlocked the car that morning. By the autumn
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: of 2023, the Michigan State Police believed that Dee Warner
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: was deceased, but they had made no arrests. Would it
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: help to have answers?
• 24:38
  Speaker 7: Absolutely.
• 24:39
  Speaker 11: Even if they're bad?
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: Even if they're bad.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: At this point, we've gone a year not knowing. Not
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: knowing is so much worse than knowing. Do you think
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: there's any chance she's still alive?
• 24:50
  Speaker 7: No.
• 24:53
  Speaker 14: I don't.
• 24:54
  Speaker 13: It will be hard, but.
• 25:01
  Speaker 10: She's still with me, so I'll be okay.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: The family petitioned to have Dee declared officially dead, though
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: that process would take some time. If successful, this declaration
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: would allow them to take back control of Dee's estate
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: and file a wrongful death suit against Dale Warner. Before
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: this could take place, however, Dale started selling off assets.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: a private investigator, Billy Little, hired by the family, began
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: to uncover a paper trail of fraudulent behavior undertaken by
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Dale in the wake of Dee's disappearance. In the autumn
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: of 2021, Dale applied for a $ 1. 4 million loan through
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: Dee's trucking company. For the application, he required Dee's signature
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: on the loan documents, as well as a copy of
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: her ID. Somehow, her signature was provided on this loan application,
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: along with a photocopy of her driver's license, despite the
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: fact that her wallet, including her ID, was never located. Then,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: when the last of the loan payments were received to
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: the business in March 2022, Dale lent himself the full amount,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: converting almost a million dollars for his personal use. In
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: September 2023, Dale Warner was found guilty of contempt of
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: court for ignoring a previous ruling freezing Dee's estate.
• 26:31
  Speaker 9: Judge Sala found Dale Warner in contempt of court stating
• 26:35
  Speaker 9: he intentionally and deliberately sold his wife's assets after being
• 26:39
  Speaker 9: instructed by the court not to. She marked several examples
• 26:43
  Speaker 9: of Dale's contempt, the most egregious being the selling of
• 26:46
  Speaker 9: Dee's trucking company, which was the most profitable portion of
• 26:50
  Speaker 9: her estate.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Dale was sentenced to 93 days in jail and ordered
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: to pay substantial financial penalties back to Dee's estate. it
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: would take another year before Michigan State Police would issue
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: an arrest warrant for murder. Without ever locating Dee's body,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: state prosecutors nonetheless believed they had enough to prove Dale
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Warner's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In response, Dale's lawyers
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: continued to argue that Dee had simply run off to
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: start a new life.
• 27:26
  Speaker 15: Easy ways to get identification from the internet, from resources overseas,
• 27:34
  Speaker 15: you can get identification.
• 27:36
  Speaker 6: You can even get a different identity.
• 27:39
  Speaker 15: It's possible today, I guess, to even get a new
• 27:41
  Speaker 15: social security number.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: The next step to get Dale to trial was proving
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: that there was probable cause for the indictment. In Michigan,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: this meant holding an extensive hearing in front of a judge.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: Dale's team argued that there was zero physical evidence that
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Dale had committed murder. Indeed, because there was no body,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: There was no physical evidence that Dee was even dead.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: There is no body.
• 28:07
  Speaker 16: There are no body parts. There's no decomposition, massive pool
• 28:11
  Speaker 16: of blood.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: Whether Ms.
• 28:12
  Speaker 16: Warner is dead is something that the government needs to prove,
• 28:16
  Speaker 16: not just submit a death certificate and checkmark.
• 28:18
  Speaker 10: That box off.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: But the circumstantial case was overwhelming. In addition to what
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: Billy Little had uncovered of Dale's alleged financial motive, There
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: was also an abundance of evidence suggesting a history of
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: abuse in the relationship. Family, friends, and employees of the
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: couple testified that the marriage was toxic. Dale and Dee
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: argued loudly and frequently. Raquel told the court that her
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: mother expressed fear of her husband.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: There was a lot of yelling.
• 28:50
  Speaker 6: There was a lot of cussing, slamming things maybe.
• 28:58
  Speaker 12: Irritation.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: Was your mom happy in the marriage?
• 29:01
  Speaker 7: No.
• 29:04
  Speaker 15: One of the last things that my mom said to
• 29:06
  Speaker 15: me was, I.
• 29:08
  Speaker 6: Watch Dateline like every night and he could do something
• 29:11
  Speaker 6: like that to me.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: And what did she mean? What did you take that
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: to mean? He could do something like that to me.
• 29:16
  Speaker 7: Objection.
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: Speculation.
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: If you know.
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: Make her disappear.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: While at the house searching for her mother, Raquel recalled
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: Dale making statements about how Dee had ruined his life.
• 29:30
  Speaker 10: Something about how my mom has.
• 29:36
  Speaker 12: Ruined his life.
• 29:38
  Speaker 15: She's always trying to ruin himself.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: Life.
• 29:41
  Speaker 6: He said everything I've worked for is gone.
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: And did you know what that meant at that time?
• 29:45
  Speaker 14: No.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: Sister-in-law Amy, who collected Lena from the house on the
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: last day Dee was seen alive, testified that she planned
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: to ask Dale for a divorce that evening. A few
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: hours later, Amy texted Dee to see how the conversation
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: was going. The text she received back was unusual. It
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: was just a single K. Some of Dee's cell phone
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: data was retrieved despite the missing device. This showed that
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: after sending that message to Amy, the cell phone was
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: powered off and never turned back on. The most likely
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: explanation was that the killer, not Dee, had sent that
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: final message.
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: She had been crying a lot.
• 30:27
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: Was this a usual or unusual... appearance from your perspective?
• 30:33
  Speaker 4: Unusual.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: How did she say that she was feeling or doing
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: at that moment in time? Did she tell you how
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: her day was going? She did on text message. What
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: did she tell you? That she had been hyperventilating and
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: vomiting all day. Did she tell you why She wanted
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: you to pick Lena up.
• 31:06
  Speaker 14: She said that her and Dale were going to have
• 31:07
  Speaker 14: a talk.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: Did she say what her plan was in regards to
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: this talk with Dale?
• 31:17
  Speaker 13: She said she wanted to sell a trucking company and
• 31:20
  Speaker 13: be done.
• 31:20
  Speaker 16: Okay.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Be done with what?
• 31:23
  Speaker 9: The marriage.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: Text messages from Dee painted a picture of Dale as
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: a controlling and at times violent husband. In December 2020,
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: Dee wrote about an argument that became a physical altercation
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: in which he turned into the devil. She texted, Her
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: massage therapist testified that she saw bruises on Dee on
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: two occasions, one of which was tied to the same
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: incident she texted another friend about. Dee told family that
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: she stayed in the marriage in part because of her daughter.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: Some speculated that she was reluctant to divorce for a
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: second time. Still, others close to her believed that despite
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: Dee's strong personality, she had fallen victim to the abuse cycle,
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: and she believed at some point it would get better.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: But by all accounts, in April 2021, Dee was reaching
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: the end of the line. Her messages showed her threatening
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: to leave Dale if he did not cease his controlling behavior.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: Data from the two vehicles that Dee drove, the Cadillac,
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: her primary vehicle, as well as the Hummer, showed the
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: extent to which Dale was keeping tabs on his wife.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: The in-vehicle tracking on the Cadillac showed that someone else
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: with access requested location data more than 2,000 times over
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: a 16-month period, averaging four location checks per day leading
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: up to her disappearance. In addition, Dale had a GPS
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: tracker secretly placed on Dee's secondary vehicle, the Hummer, because
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: he was worried she was having an affair. That data
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: was accessed 176 times before Dee found the device. It
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: turns out Dee was, in fact, having an affair. This
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: development did not come as a shock to family when
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: it was discovered, given that her marriage had been on
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: the rocks for years. The identity of her lover has
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: not been disclosed, and police say that man has an
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: airtight alibi for the time that she went missing. Whether
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: his paranoia was justified, however, was irrelevant to the steps
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: that Dale took to track and control his wife. He
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: allegedly had secret cameras installed inside the house. He attempted
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: to have an employee download all of the data off
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: of her phone. He obsessively checked the location of her
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: vehicles and her cell phone.
• 33:55
  Speaker 7: Based on the testimony of the witnesses and the evidence admitted,
• 33:58
  Speaker 7: the people have met their burden for purposes of preliminary
• 34:00
  Speaker 7: examination that there is probable cause that Dee Warner died
• 34:04
  Speaker 7: by homicide at the hands of the defendant, Dale Warner.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: As Dale awaited trial, searches for Dee's body continued. On
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: August 16th, 2024, two more search warrants were issued for
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: the farm on Munger Road and the adjacent property. Two
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: days later, authorities confirmed they had located the remains of
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: Dee Warner. She was found inside an anhydrous ammonia tank
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: used for the family's chemical fertilizer business. Police seized the
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: tank from a barn located on property owned by Dale
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: On it was a handwritten tag with an aluminum wire
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: to notate that the tank was out of service due
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: to a bad dip tube. It was then x-rayed, revealing
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: remains inside. The tank had been spotted near to a
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: trash pile next to a barn two days after Dee's disappearance.
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: Witnesses reported seeing Dale mending and then painting it over
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: this period of time. According to surveillance video and officers' observations,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: the tank was relocated after two days. On it, they
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: found a non-manufactured weld, meaning it showed signs of being
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: manually welded shut.
• 35:21
  Speaker 13: These are the types of tanks they are.
• 35:24
  Speaker 14: And as you'll notice, there's a seam right here.
• 35:30
  Speaker 13: And that appears to be where the seam was cut.
• 35:35
  Speaker 13: And then this cap taken off, and then her body
• 35:41
  Speaker 13: put in that way.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: There was no liquid found inside the tank with Dee.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: The medical examiner's office determined she died from strangulation. Greg
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: Hardy and son Parker witnessed Dale working on a tank
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: over a few days after Dee went missing. This was
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: odd for a few reasons, they said. The first, because
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: it was not logical to spend time repairing rusted out tanks. Commonly,
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: they would simply be replaced. Second, they did not believe
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: that Dale had the welding skills required to properly repair it.
• 36:19
  Speaker 10: My father and I were the ones that originally saw
• 36:22
  Speaker 10: him about three days after, two days after working on
• 36:25
  Speaker 10: that very tank. And it was always a weird thought
• 36:29
  Speaker 10: to me on why he.
• 36:29
  Speaker 6: Was doing that. We questioned him.
• 36:31
  Speaker 10: We've been talking as a family that She wasn't in
• 36:34
  Speaker 10: that tank when I was there. She was in that
• 36:37
  Speaker 10: tank when my dad was there the next day. And
• 36:39
  Speaker 10: he remembers the look on his face. I mean, he
• 36:43
  Speaker 10: had not slept all night. There's no doubt he had
• 36:46
  Speaker 10: been up all night working, which takes a lot of
• 36:48
  Speaker 10: work to remove that cap, place her in there, get
• 36:51
  Speaker 10: her from wherever he had her at, place her in there, weld.
• 36:54
  Speaker 6: The tank back up, and begin painting it.
• 36:55
  Speaker 10: He wanted to get it painted far enough where you
• 36:59
  Speaker 10: couldn't see the new welds. After you got past that,
• 37:03
  Speaker 10: He was home free because people would just think, oh,
• 37:05
  Speaker 10: he's just working on a tank. It's taking him a
• 37:06
  Speaker 10: long time. He didn't want anybody to see that he'd
• 37:09
  Speaker 10: been welding on it. There would never be a reason
• 37:11
  Speaker 10: to weld on a tank. You'd get rid of it
• 37:13
  Speaker 10: if there was something wrong. All these years, it's always
• 37:17
  Speaker 10: been in the back of our head. My mom actually
• 37:20
  Speaker 10: always said, what if he could cut that tank open
• 37:23
  Speaker 10: and put her in it and weld it back up?
• 37:24
  Speaker 10: And I'm like, that's a lot of work. He's not
• 37:27
  Speaker 10: that good of a welder.
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: Dale Warner may not have been a great welder, His
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: son Jaron, however, was rumored to be. In March 2024,
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: Jaron Warner, now 26 years old and Lena's temporary guardian,
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: was charged with tampering with evidence and being an accessory
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: to murder after the fact.
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: Is Lena here with you? No.
• 37:52
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 37:53
  Speaker 6: We got a warrant for your arrest, buddy.
• 37:54
  Speaker 4: Put your hands behind your back.
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: Are you serious?
• 37:56
  Speaker 10: Yep.
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: Are you serious right now?
• 37:58
  Speaker 4: Dead. I'll explain everything to you. Just give us a minute, okay?
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: There were no publicly released statements detailing the evidence against Jaron.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: There was only speculation that Dale must have had assistance
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: in hiding Dee's body and disposing of her personal belongings.
• 38:16
  Speaker 17: Jaron, your warrant is for accessory after the fact of
• 38:19
  Speaker 17: a homicide and for tampering with evidence.
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: What's that, buddy?
• 38:23
  Speaker 6: I'm not sure what that means, I guess.
• 38:26
  Speaker 17: So essentially, you took actions after the homicide that.
• 38:33
  Speaker 17: You now know and should have known, likely, that it
• 38:37
  Speaker 17: was after a crime occurred. I've been truthful with you.
• 38:44
  Speaker 17: Your dad has put you in really shitty spots throughout this.
• 38:46
  Speaker 17: And unfortunately, you continue to let him to do that.
• 38:48
  Speaker 17: And it's not a position I envy you for, that's
• 38:51
  Speaker 17: for sure. But those are the cards you were dealt.
• 38:53
  Speaker 17: But again, short of begging you, I've done everything I
• 38:56
  Speaker 17: could for you to talk to me and explain this
• 38:59
  Speaker 17: part of the story.
• 39:00
  Speaker 4: And unfortunately, you didn't want to do that.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: In May 2025, the prosecutor's office, having never detailed how
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: exactly they believed Jaron had been involved, dropped the charges
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: against him. They stated only that a witness could not
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: be located, but should that individual be found, they could
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: refile the charges. Before the discovery of Dee's remains, Dale
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: Warner's trial for first-degree murder had been scapegoated. to commence
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: in September 2025. However, court records now show that it
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: has been pushed to a start date of January 27, 2026.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: Dee Warner's family have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: the amount of $ 100 million against Dale It's unclear how
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: much her estate is actually worth, certainly not that amount.
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: Nor is it clear how much Dale has already siphoned
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: off of it. Since her body has been found, the
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: family has been offered some closure. They look forward to
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: seeing Dale Warner receive the sentence that he deserves. And
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: they want Dee to know that she is still very
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: much loved.
• 40:15
  Speaker 3: You know, this is totally premeditated in my opinion.
• 40:19
  Speaker 14: To kill your wife and tomb her in a steel
• 40:24
  Speaker 14: tube to attempt to hide her forever from not only
• 40:28
  Speaker 14: the public but maybe from some of his family members
• 40:32
  Speaker 14: who may or may not have knowledge. That's insane.
• 40:35
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's a huge, huge, very, very evil person
• 40:40
  Speaker 3: to do that. I mean, you obviously have no remorse
• 40:43
  Speaker 3: if you can do that. So I think it'll be
• 40:46
  Speaker 3: a pretty strong trial, and I can't wait. We'd certainly
• 40:49
  Speaker 3: like to tell her we love her very much.
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: I think that covers it when we say we love
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: her very much. Thanks.
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: And that was the tragic case of Dee Ann Warder.
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining me, and a special thanks this
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: week to Nurse Severa and Heidi Betrock for joining our
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: Members' Lounge.
• 41:17
  Speaker 6: I'm Kevin.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: This is Just Thought Lounge, and I'll see you in
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: the next one.