Man Pleads Guilty To Lying About Jessica Heeringa's Disappearance

MUSKEGON (WWJ/AP) -- A 47-year-old western Michigan man has pleaded guilty to lying to police about the disappearance of a gas station clerk.

Kevin Bluhm appeared Friday in Muskegon County Circuit Court.

Bluhm is the cousin of Jeffrey Willis, who is being investigated in the 2013 disappearance of Jessica Heeringa, a clerk in Norton Shores.

Authorities say Bluhm told police Willis was responsible, but later told police he made it up. He will be sentenced in September.

Willis is charged with abducting a 16-year-old girl in April and the 2014 slaying of 36-year-old jogger Rebekah Bletsch in Dalton Township.

Bluhm waived a preliminary examination last month on a charge of lying to police in the Bletsch case.

Heeringa hasn't been seen since just before she was closing up an Exxon Station where she worked in Norton Shores on April 26, 2013.

Investigators have said they think the young mother was taken against her will by someone she likely knew. There was no indication of a robbery, as Heeringa's purse, vehicle and other items were left behind at the scene. DNA testing showed a small amount of blood found outside the gas station belonged to Heeringa.

Anyone with information on Heeringa's disappearance is asked to contact Silent Observer anonymous tip line at 231-72-CRIME.

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