Missing woman case now probed as a homicide, Genesee Co. sheriff says

The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office has shifted its investigation of a missing woman to a homicide case.

Law enforcement now aims for a recovery, not rescue, of Kelly McWhirter, a 60-year-old Flushing resident missing since Saturday and presumed dead, Sheriff Christopher Swanson said in a press conference Thursday.

McWhirter’s husband, Steven Higgins, shot himself in the head on Wednesday when alerted officials identified his 2009 Ford F-150 truck and initiated a traffic stop.

Higgins remains the prime suspect and "took his life," Swanson said Thursday. "We have the one person who knows that he’s responsible unable to communicate."

Swanson's office is investigating with police, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the FBI.

“We treated this as a suspicious situation, possible homicide, from the get-go," he said Thursday.

Investigators believe the couple had a confrontation over the weekend in a Flushing home on the 400 block of Luce Avenue, roughly 10 miles northwest of Flint.

Police swept the house and found evidence of DNA, blood loss and attempts to clean up the scene, Swanson said.

Investigators also found a lot of blood in the back of McWhirter’s white 2022 Hyundai Tucson, where there were signs of a struggle.

Datapoints show Higgins drove the Hyundai to Norwalk, Ohio and stayed at a home Saturday and Sunday.

Higgins drove back up to Michigan in his truck on Sunday via U.S. 23. Crash data indicates he stopped at Big Daddy’s Truck Stop in Monroe County for about seven minutes but didn’t get out, Swanson said.

“We know that that (Hyundai) was the vehicle that Higgins drove to Ohio,” Swanson said. “Where Kelly was, I don’t know the answer to that.”

Investigators searched Higgins’ truck and found shovels with fresh dirt and an empty body bag with blood and contaminants.

They also found tents, matches, ropes and other survival equipment.

Law enforcement found Higgins and McWhirter’s phones in Montrose on Lake Road on Tuesday. They used data from that to track the Hyundai to Ohio.

McWhirter’s keys are still missing.

Soon after the media briefing ended Thursday, the Sheriff's Office said it received information expanding the search to Tall Timber Trail in the Prescott area of Ogemaw County.

"We will continue to provide updates when they become available," officials said.