ARMADA, Mich. – Defender cameras were rolling as James Vancallis Jr. was led into court on Monday.
Vancallis has been named the only person of interest in the murder of 14-year-old April Millsap. He has been locked up on unrelated drug charges and now for this first time his attorney says he expects murder charges to come down any day now.
"I do anticipate charges in this case ... it's speculative at this point but we would think that since the investigation is nearing its end that the charges could be on the horizon," said attorney Dean Ankouny.
Investigators have spent the past several weeks searching homes, the trail where April was discovered and also interviewing family members at length. It is clear they are working to build this case. The information collected, as well as evidence that puts Vancallis in Armada on the day of the murder.
"We believe he may have been in Armada that day. He would frequent Armada on several occasions," said Ankouny. "He grew up in Armada. It's only 15 to 20 minutes from where he lives, so he has friends and family in Armada and we don't think that would be indicative of any type of wrongful conduct on his part -- just being in Armada."
The attorney representing both Vancallis and his father says the past weeks have been emotionally exhausting for all family members.
"We don't understand why it's been such a long period of time -- more than a month now since they've named him a person of interest. It's just difficult on the family and on my client," said Ankouny.
Vancallis's father, 66-year-old James Bernard Vancallis, also faces drug controlled substance and manufacturing marijuana charges.