The search for three aspiring rappers ended Thursday in Michigan when bodies believed to be theirs were discovered in an abandoned Detroit apartment complex.
Almost two weeks after the Michigan men went missing on the night of their canceled Jan. 21 performance at Lounge 31, police believe they have located 38-year-old Armani “Marley Whoop” Kelly, 31-year-old Montoya Givens, and 31-year-old Dante “B12” Wicker.
Michigan State Police shared updates from the scene on Twitter upon discovering “multiple victims” in a building at the corner of McNichols and Log Cabin.
“Detectives are continuing to investigate this incident and more than likely will be there throughout the night,” MSP stated. “As of now, we haven’t confirmed the identity of any victims inside or a manner of death.”
Although MSP stressed that the victims have not yet been identified, Givens’ mother Cat Fogle confirmed to The Detroit News that police notified her of her son’s death Thursday afternoon.
“They told me they found the three bodies,” said Fogel. “I don’t know what I’m going to do; how I’m going to bury him.”
Kelly told his fiancée Taylor Perrin the night he went missing that the Lounge show was canceled over an equipment issue and he was planning to meet up with friends and do some open mic shows, The News reported.
Perrin said he stopped responding to communications at around 7:30 p.m. By the next morning, all three of their phones stopped sending data, according to a previous WJBK report.
Kelly’s mother Lorrie Kemp reported him missing on Jan. 23, when she was able to use OnStar to help police locate her son’s car in Warren. Givens and Wicker’s families made the connection when they saw the news report four days later and realized all three men knew each other.
“I just beg for help, for anything. I need answers and, if it comes to it, I need closure, because I will never forget and I will never stop,” Perrin told WJBK, explaining that Kelly was working, going to school and developing his rap career while bouncing back from a robbery arrest.
Kemp noted in a post on Sunday that her son met Givens and Wicker in the Department of Corrections while calling out law enforcement’s response to their disappearance.
“Yes these young men were at DOC but they didn’t deserve this!” she wrote. “Shame on the police shame on the whole state & shame on u Detroit. If only 1 police dept. would have listened maybe we would NOT b here!”
A source for The News said that the bodies were found after police raided a home on Wednesday and brought in a person of interest, but it’s unclear if he provided the information that resulted in the discovery.
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