The search for three aspiring rappers came to an end Thursday in Detroit when bodies believed to be theirs were discovered in an abandoned Highland Park 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 Armani “Marley Whoop” Kelly, 38, Montoya Givens, 31, and Dante “B12” Wicker, 31, according to WJBK.
Michigan State Police tweeted updates from the scene after discovering “multiple victims” in a building at McNichols and Log Cabin.
“Detectives are still investigating this incident and will most likely be there throughout the night,” MSP said. “As of now, we haven’t confirmed the identity or manner of death of any victims inside.”
Although the victims have not yet been identified, Givens’ mother Cat Fogle confirmed to The Detroit News that police informed 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 had been canceled due to an equipment malfunction and that he was going to meet up with friends and do some open mic shows, according to The News.
Perrin stated that he ceased responding to communications around 7:30 p.m. According to a previous WJBK report, all three of their phones had stopped sending data by the next morning.
Lorrie Kemp, Kelly’s mother, reported him missing on Jan. 23 after using OnStar to help police locate her son’s car in Warren. When Givens and Wicker’s families saw the news report four days later, they 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.