Play the update episode about Dee Ann Warner’s case below and click here to follow.
Read the transcript here:
It’s been two and a half years since Dee Ann Warner disappeared without a trace from her home in Michigan. We told the story of this 52-year-old grandmother in Season One of Dateline Missing in America 2022.
Now we have a big development to report: there’s been an arrest in her case.
I’m Josh Mankiewicz and this is a “Missing in America” update.
On Tuesday, November 21st, 2023, Dale Warner, Dee Ann’s husband, was arrested and charged with murder and tampering with evidence in connection with her disappearance.
The 53-year-old Warner was arraigned the next morning in Lenawee County District Court.
Dee Ann’s family, including her brother, Gregg Hardy, were in the courtroom, sitting right behind the prosecution table…
Gregg Hardy: “It’s a bittersweet thing. Listen, I’ve known this family all of my life. It’s — it’s horrible to have to be at odds about one of their family members who I’ve known all of my life. And so I have to stay focused on the reality that it happened. Some days — sometimes it feels almost impossible that it could have happened, but I stay focused on the facts that demonstrate that it did happen and who did it. And we — I’m a firm believer in justice. So, that was all going through my head as I sat there after culminating two and a half years of chasing this around to get to the point where the authorities had concurred with what we have been — been pushing for — for a long time.”
Dale Warner joined the court proceedings via a video link from the Lenawee County Jail.
He sat in front of a white cinderblock wall, wearing an orange jumpsuit — his hands folded in his lap. You can see Warner had written notes in the left breast pocket of his orange jailhouse shirt. He did not read from them, instead answering “yes” and “no” to the court’s questions.
Dale Warner pleaded not guilty to both charges. His bond was set at 20 million dollars.
Dateline reached out to Warner’s attorneys for comment.
They responded: “We believe that a fair and objective review of the evidence — or more precisely the lack of evidence in this case — will show that Mr. Warner did not kill his wife.”
They added that they “intend to vigorously fight” the charges on behalf of their client.
Dale was Dee Ann’s second husband. They lived along a small country road, where Dee Ann’s vast property spanned thousands of acres — a property where Dale continued to live after his wife’s disappearance.
It’s also a property police have searched multiple times over the years, including in May 2023, when they enlisted the help of cadaver dogs.
We know they didn’t find a body. We don’t know what else they might have found.
Now, Dee Ann Warner’s family sees her husband’s arrest as progress.
Her brother, Gregg:
Gregg Hardy: “It’s obviously a very large step forward, um — following a huge amount of — of time spent trying to push the process, trying to make the process accountable. Um, and for the family, it is a — a big relief that — that all the stuff that we’ve believed in and have, you know, spoken of in rallies and in vigils for my sister, uh — we’ve been open about it, and it’s finally been, uh — you know, been basically brought to fruition because of the investigation coming to the very same conclusion that we have come to over time.”
Despite the welcome news, the fact remains that their sister, mom, grandma has never been found.
Gregg Hardy: “It’s difficult. It’s — you know, the pain has not gone away. The — the actual event that took place and, you know, not having any closure to that is haunting for the family. Um, we have all, I believe, resigned ourselves to the fact that — that there’s no other option than she has been killed and her body some way hidden or destroyed, um, by Mr. Warner. And the only good thing is that now we finally have a little peace of mind that there is some possible justice here after two and a half years. And, uh, you know, my sister was the kind of person who would have praised this kind of a fight. She — she was a fighter, and I think she would be pleased that someone is carrying on the fight for her because that’s what she would do for someone else. She would fight for the — for the justice for someone else. There’s little doubt about that.”
Holidays are the hardest for Dee’s family. They say her absence for the past two and a half years is a void that will never be filled, no matter the outcome of these charges.
Gregg Hardy: “Thanksgiving was kind of a holiday that my sister tried to draw all the different family fractions together for some sort of a large gathering and dinner. She was a good cook and, um, in — in our family, it’s been kind of a tradition for big gatherings on Thanksgiving. And so it — you know, it’s an empty — it’s an empty seat, a big seat, that’s not filled.”
The Michigan State Police are continuing to follow leads and ask that anyone with information contact the MSP Monroe Post at 734-242-3500.