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Renewed Search For Jessica Heeringa: Police, Dogs Combing Area Near Suspect's Home

Missing Jessica Heeringa 4-27-13
Jessica Heeringa.

MUSKEGON (CBS Detroit) The search for Jessica Heeringa, 25, intensified again Friday morning when police reportedly started combing an area near the home of suspected killer and kidnapper Jeffrey Willis, presumably for her remains.

Heeringa disappeared three years ago while working at a gas station in Norton Shores, Mich. One spot of blood was the singular sign that she had met foul play.

Police are so far mum on any new leads.

"If we have something to say, they will post it on our website," a spokeswoman said.

This is from freep.com:

"According to a police official familiar with the case, a team of investigators and cadaver dogs searched an area near an old railroad line this morning after receiving information that Heeringa's body was dumped there. The cadaver search has not yielded any results, but the investigation is ongoing.

According to the official, the search took place about a quarter mile down the street from where Jeffrey Willis -- the suspect in another Muskegon area murder -- lived in Muskegon Township.

Hundreds of tips have been investigated and a cash reward topping $21,000 is being offered in the case — but still, no one knows what happened to Heeringa.

A break in the case came in May when Willis, 46, of Muskegon Township, was arrested for attempting to abduct a 16-year-old girl. She managed to escape from his van. According to a detective's statement in the kidnapping case, investigators found a pistol, ammunition, syringes with liquid, a ball gag, chains, a mask and a bar with wrist restraints in Willis's van. Child pornography and videos of bound women were found in his home.

He was later charged with murder in the shooting death of a 36-year-old woman in 2014.

Jeffrey Willis (photo: Muskegon County Jail)

Jeffrey Willis (photo: Muskegon County Jail)

Prosecutors have said he is being investigated in Heeringa's 2013 disappearance.
Willis is being held on a $1 million bond.
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