- Dee Warner vanished from her Michigan home in April 2021, and despite extensive searches, investigators found no trace of her
- In 2024, police discovered Dee’s remains hidden inside a sealed fertiliser tank
- Dale Warner was convicted of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in 2026
On the outside Dee Warner seemed one tough cookie. Running successful businesses with her husband, Dale, the 52-year-old didn’t suffer fools gladly.
But inside the hard shell was a soft woman who adored her family and lived for her kids and grandchildren.
Dee and Dale had an unusual start to their relationship. Both were married – Dee to Tim Bock and Dale to Julie Warner. But when both marriages felt apart, the couples swapped partners, with Tim and Julie getting married, and Dee and Dale becoming an item.
The pair, who both had four children each from their first marriages, went on to tie the knot, before welcoming their daughter, Angelina together.
The dynamic was hard on the older kids, including Dee’s brood Amber, TJ, Zack and Rikkell, but they did their best to adapt to the unique situation.
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Busy as Dee was, she always made time for her family, even after the kids grew up and left home.
Each Sunday, Rikkell, who lived just 800 metres from Dee and Dale – they could even see each other’s properties – visited her mum for breakfast.
But in April 2021, when Rikkell turned up for her weekly meet-up with Dee, she was shocked to find the place empty.
Bizarrely, both her mum’s cars were there, but Dee wasn’t answering calls or texts. It was so unlike Dee, who practically had her phone glued to her hand at all times.
When Rikkell finally got hold of Dale, he claimed they’d argued the night before, and that he’d found Dee’s wedding ring left on his desk, suggesting she’d taken off.
Dee’s brother Gregg Hardy and the rest of the family were very worried, fearing if Dee was so upset she may have harmed herself.
Contacting police, they reported her missing. As word spread of Dee’s sudden disappearance, the community banded together to search, but it didn’t lead to any clues.
Weeks went on, and it seemed that Dee had vanished into thin air.
‘She just left me without a word,’ Dale told friends, suggesting she’d gone to be with another man.
But her kids didn’t buy the idea that Dee would up and leave without saying goodbye to them.
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The family created a Facebook page, Justice for Dee, to encourage community members to keep their eyes and ears out for any new information on Dee’s whereabouts.
State police and the FBI took on Dee’s case, and investigators used drones, cadaver dogs and excavators to search the property, but still drew a blank.
Convinced Dale was involved, Gregg organised huge billboards near their property, imploring anyone with information to come forward. One read, Help Dale Find Dee, which Gregg hoped would pressure Dale into coming clean about his involvement.
But Dale didn’t budge.
Then shockingly, in November 2023, Dale was arrested and charged with Dee’s murder – but still there was no body.
The following August, police searched Dale Warner’s property again – three years after Dee went missing.
This time police looked closely at a newly painted ammonia fertiliser tank on their property – a piece of equipment Gregg had seen Dale working on around the time Dee disappeared.
Chillingly when X-rayed, human remains were seen in the tank. Detectives found a decomposed body wrapped in a tarp and duct tape inside. Dental records confirmed it was Dee.
An autopsy concluded Dee’s death was likely from strangulation and blunt force trauma to the face and head.
She’d been hidden from her family in plain sight for years.
In 2025 Dale Warner appeared in Lenawee County District Court in Michigan, US.
Prosecutors revealed Dee had told close friends and family she’d been unhappy for some time. On the day she went missing, Dee and Dale had argued about money and she’d finally asked for a divorce.
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The court was shown evidence that Dale had stalked Dee with trackers on her car and cameras, checking her location over 2000 times. Text messages from Dee’s phone revealed she’d been pushed into a dresser by Dale and feared he was going to kill her.
Chillingly, prosecutors said Dale Warner had slain his wife and concealed her body in a locked safe.
On the morning she disappeared he’d been seen using heavy equipment. Warner had transported Dee’s body into the tank before welding it closed.
Damningly, forensic evidence showed Warner’s fingerprints on the outside. And internet history showed he’d searched for chemical cremation.
The defence argued there was no eyewitness evidence proving Dale committed the murder.
But the jury didn’t buy it.
It took them eight hours in March 2026 to find Dale Warner guilty of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
In court, Dee’s daughter Amber described her mum as the ‘foundation’ of their lives and said the family had been permanently changed by her loss.
In May, Judge Michael Olsaver sentenced Dale Warner, 58, to 31 to 60 years for murder, plus a consecutive sentence of 17 months to 10 years for tampering with evidence.
Speaking outside court Gregg Hardy said, ‘No-one should ever consider doing that to a human being, let alone the mother of your child, or your wife… it’s impossible to conceive how someone would be that evil.’
For her family, they’d finally got justice for Dee and laid her to rest.
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