Guilty: Husband Convicted of Wife's Murder Without a Body
Dale Warner found guilty of killing Dee Ann Warner, whose remains were discovered in a sealed tank on his property nearly three years after her disappearance
Quick Facts
Dee Ann Warner, 52, disappeared from her home in Tipton/Franklin Township, Lenawee County, Michigan, during the early morning hours of April 25, 2021. More than four years later, her husband Dale John Warner was found guilty of her murder—despite the case having no initial body and beginning as a missing persons investigation.
On the night before her disappearance, Dee Ann had planned to take decisive action. She intended to discuss leaving her marriage, file for divorce, and sell the trucking and farming business she ran from barns behind their Munger Road home in Tecumseh. The couple had been living in what family members described as an "extremely toxic" relationship, marked by alleged stalking, domestic violence, and physical abuse. According to investigators, Dale had placed a tracking device on her car and their marriage had deteriorated significantly.
The evening of April 24, 2021, a heated argument erupted between the couple—centered on her business and an employee named Todd Neyrinck. That night would be the last anyone heard from Dee Ann. She left no digital trace: no phone activity, no bank transactions, no social media posts. Security footage showed no evidence of her leaving the property.
Initially, the Lenawee County Sheriff's Office led the investigation into her disappearance. For more than two years, the case remained unsolved and unresolved. The breakthrough came on August 9, 2023, when Michigan State Police took over the investigation and publicly named Dale Warner a person of interest. Three months later, on November 21, 2023, he was arrested. The following day, he was charged with murder (open count) and tampering with evidence. Bail was denied, and he remained in custody pending trial.
The case's pivotal moment arrived on August 16-17, 2024, when investigators executing a search warrant on Dale Warner's Paragon Road property made a grim discovery. Inside a resealed anhydrous ammonia tank—similar to a propane tank commonly used in agricultural settings—they found human remains. The discovery came nearly three and a half years after Dee Ann's disappearance and provided the physical evidence that had eluded investigators throughout the early stages of the investigation.
