TRAVERSE CITY -- UPDATE: Investigators have recovered a body and a suspect is in jail facing Open Murder charges in the disappearance of 16-year-old Carly Lewis.
Police found the body behind the Department of Public Works building on Woodmere Avenue. The body was in a pile of sand used for winter road maintenance.
Investigators are awaiting positive identification of the body, but say through the course of questioning Tuesday, a 17-year-old Traverse City man confessed to killing Carly.
Police say the man knew Carly and that this was not a random act. Carly was last seen June 2. She would have turned 17 Wednesday.
Below is a timeline of the events that led up to police finding the body:
On June 13th 2011, investigators from the Traverse City Department located a possible crime scene in a small metal vacant building located in the 700 Block of Beitner Street near Woodmere Avenue. Evidence technicians from the Traverse City Police Department and the Michigan State Police process the area and removed evidence from the building.
On June 14th 2011 Investigators from the Traverse City Police Department took a 17 year old man from Traverse City to the Michigan State Police Crime Lab in Grayling, Michigan for a Polygraph exam. At the conclusion of the polygraph exam the 17 year old admitted to killing Carly Lewis on June 2, 2011 the day she went missing and eventually burying her body nearby.
On June 14, 2011 at 5:30pm the 17 year old was transported back to Traverse City where he was lodged in the Grand Traverse County Jail on Open Murder charges.
On June 14th 2011 at 7:00pm a team of investigators with the Michigan State Police Body recovery unit located the body of Carly Lewis buried in a grave in the north-east corner of the Traverse City Department of Public Works located adjacent to the crime scene on Beitner Street.
On June 15th, 2011 at 1:30 am (Carly Lewis' 17th Birthday) her body was removed from the grave and transported to the Morgue at Munson Medical Center on 6th street in the City of Traverse City. Carly's body will be taken to Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan today for a full autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
Agencies that assisted in the investigation include the Grand Traverse Sheriff's Office, the Michigan State Police, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Persons. K91 Service Dogs, and the FBI.
Capt. Brian Heffner with the Traverse City Police Dept. also issued this statement in an email with the press release issued Wednesday morning:
The attached press release relays the facts in the case of the murder of Carly Lewis, what this press release does not state is just as important. Investigators came together from around the state of Michigan and beyond to bring a little girl home to her parents. This is not the outcome we had obviously hoped for. Traverse City is a small community (although growing) and everyone seems to know everyone. Our investigators grew up with Carlys Parents, the suspects parents and many people in between. Police officers are trained to handle cases in methodical, precise, mechanical modes - often we forget they are human. Everyone in the local Law Enforcement community is devastated by this senseless murder and our thoughts and prayers go out to the Parents of Carly Lewis and their extended family and friends.
Respectfully,
Brian D. Heffner
Captain
Traverse City Police Department
UpNorthLive has set up a community memorial page for Carly Lewis. If you would like to post a comment for the Lewis family please CLICK HERE.
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Investigators from around the country are joining the search efforts for a Traverse City teenager missing for nearly two weeks.
Carly Lewis, 16, was last seen June 2 at 6 PM.
A Detective with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Persons flew into northern Michigan to take part in the search. The FBI, Michigan State Police, Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office, and the Traverse City Police Department are also working around the clock on the case.
Investigators are retracing the steps Carly took the day she was last seen. They are using tracking dogs as well as other crime scene technology to help in the search.
Monday, crime scene investigators and detectives spent six hours in the area of Woodmere and Beitner. Buildings were searched as well as a vacant lot. Bodies of water are also being extensively searched.
Officials say they are trying to narrow down the places Carly may have been. The search area right now is concentrated from Northwestern Michigan College - down eight street - and to the TART trail near the Traverse Area District Library.
Tuesday police are using K9 dogs to search the Boardman Lake area as well as other vacant buildings in Traverse City. Pat Lamson was one of the dog handlers taking part in the effort.
"The dogs are trained to indicate when they detect the scent of human remains. There is way more negative areas to clear than there are positive areas where the person is located. So it's only through the process of elimination sometimes that you actually find the missing person or subjects. You pick the probable areas and start working them one by one eliminating," explained Lamson.
Several search warrants have been issued for phone records, surveillance video and employment records. Investigators did file a warrant to get the surveillance video from the Traverse Area District Library on the day Carly disappeared.
More than 150 people have been questioned and some of them given polygraph tests as a part of the investigation. Carly is on the National Crime Information Center and the Law Enforcement Information Network as a missing juvenile.
Family and friends have passed out and posted nearly 1,000 flyers with her pictures and information around Northern Michigan.
Anyone with information regarding Carly is asked to contact the Silent Observer Tip Line at 947-TIPS (8477). Anyone with information leading to the location of Carly Lewis could receive up to a $2,500 reward.
Carly's mom says friends have reported the teenager was wearing a pink tank top with black leggings and a gray and white Northface jacket.
Carly turns 17 Wednesday.
To see the website dedicated to Carly through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CLICK HERE.