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Private investigator in Dee Warner case says money was a motive

Mary Lowe, The Daily Telegram
·3 min read

A private investigator hired by relatives of missing Dee Ann Warner appeared in an online broadcast Wednesday evening to lay out some new information he said he has established in the case.

The main point came out in a forensic audit of Dee and Dale Warner's business records and surprised investigator Billy Little because he had not thought that finances were a motive in the case. Little appeared on "The Interview Room" with Chris McDonough on YouTube in a followup to a livestream the two in May.

More: Private investigator on Dee Warner case says arrest forthcoming

More: Investigator gives details of his work on Dee Warner case on YouTube show

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Little said Dee Warner's trucking company, DDW Investments LLC, had financed $1 million in losses on her husband Dale Warner's agricultural businesses and that Dee owned 100% of the trucking company. It was a very successful business, Little said.

Dee Warner of Franklin Township has been missing since the morning hours of April 25, 2021, according to a news release from the Lenawee County Sheriff's Office. Anyone with information that may be helpful in locating Warner is asked to contact the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office at 517-263-0524.
Dee Warner of Franklin Township has been missing since the morning hours of April 25, 2021, according to a news release from the Lenawee County Sheriff's Office. Anyone with information that may be helpful in locating Warner is asked to contact the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office at 517-263-0524.

Dee had been discussing the sale of DDW Investments in 2020. Dale, Little said, used a forged power of attorney from 2014 to transfer the assets of DDW Investments into a new trucking company, DDW Transportation LLC, in August 2021 and left the bad debt behind and in the process committed tax evasion. Dale owned all of DDW Transportation when he did this. Just this month, Dale sold the trucking business to Laidlaw Carriers Bulk.

Little said the argument Dale and Dee were engaged in Saturday, April 24, 2021, was about Todd Neyrinck, a person with whom Dee had also had an argument that day and who benefited from the sale by being hired by Laidlaw as a finance employee.

Also new in the case, Little says that between 3 and 4:30 a.m. the following Sunday, Dale was at his father John Warner's house getting digging equipment and the chemicals that burned off his fingerprints before law enforcement arrived at Dale and Dee's home.

Little says that from 10:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24, 2021, to 3 a.m. Sunday, April 25, 2021, the lights were on at the home.

Dee Warner, 52, of Tecumseh has been missing since the morning hours of April 25, 2021. Anyone with information that may be helpful in locating Warner is asked to contact Detective Kevin Greca at the sheriff’s office by calling 517-263-5364.
Dee Warner, 52, of Tecumseh has been missing since the morning hours of April 25, 2021. Anyone with information that may be helpful in locating Warner is asked to contact Detective Kevin Greca at the sheriff’s office by calling 517-263-5364.

A month prior to Dee's disappearance, according to Little, Dale told people close to Dee that he was going to kill her. Little reports that after Dee's disappearance, Dale said, "They'll never find her body," and "Karma, she got what she had coming."

The Monday after the disappearance, Little said Dale went shopping for a criminal defense attorney. Little has reached out to the attorney and Dale to discuss the case but they never agreed to, Little said. Dale also called someone to get the password to the couple's security system at their home changed, Little said.

At no point over the weekend did Dale check on the couple's now 10-year-old daughter who had been staying with friends because Dee was going to have a discussion with Dale about leaving the marriage, Little has said.

Signs and billboards have gone up in Lenawee County with information on how to contact authorities if anyone has information on the whereabouts of Dee Ann Warner.
Signs and billboards have gone up in Lenawee County with information on how to contact authorities if anyone has information on the whereabouts of Dee Ann Warner.

Friends of Dee said she had been crying and throwing up all day long. According to Little, Dale arrived home at 7 p.m. that Saturday, at 7:42 p.m. their child was picked up by a friend, at 8:34 p.m. Dale cleared the property of the last remaining worker, at 10:25 p.m. Dee received at text from a friend asking how she was, at 10:52 p.m. there was a text back from Dee's iPhone of "K" and the phone switched from Wi-Fi to cellular service, and at 2:30 a.m. Dee's iPhone and Apple Watch went dead.

Little said that he has interviewed "probably more than 100" people in the case. He said he shared the latest information with law enforcement on a Thursday and a Friday and was told that they would get back to him on Monday. He has never heard back, he said.

Little compiled a list of questions for law enforcement that the Telegram shared with the Lenawee County Sheriff's Office. The Telegram had not received a response by press time Thursday.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Private investigator in Dee Warner case says money was a motive