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Michigan mother frantically searching for son, 2 friends who went missing in Detroit

DETROIT – Multiple agencies are continuing their search for three men who potentially went missing on Detroit’s east side.

The mother of one man is hoping for answers.

“I’ll never see that beautiful smile. He’ll never tussle with me no more. He’s never gonna lay in bed with me no more. And I know somebody knows something,” said the mother of Armani Kelly, Lorrie Kemp.

Kemp and Taylor Perrin can’t help but think the worst after the disappearance of son and fiancé, 28-year-old Armani Kelly, also known as Marley Whoop.

“It’s just been a nightmare that I wanna wake up from and I want my fiancé home,” said Perrin. “He didn’t deserve any of this and I just pray that he’s somewhere out there. We need him.”

On Jan. 21, Kelly along with 2 others, now identified as Dante Wicker of Melvindale and Montoya Givens were supposed to be performing at Lounge 31. Sadly they never made it.

“It breaks my heart. I talked to Dante’s mother and girlfriend and do you know how guilty I feel that my son picked up these other two young men?” Kemp insisted.

His mother traveled from Oscoda tracking the vehicle Kelly was driving using on-star - taking matters into her own hands.

“The next day I went by myself and canvassed on Gratiot and stayed there til dusk passing out flyers,” said Kemp.

The vehicle popped up in several locations before being recovered from an apartment complex in Warren. Authorities from four cities, Oscoda, Melvindale, Warren and Detroit have been working on the investigation. Sadly, Kemp and PPerrin say so far, they feel they’ve been failed by all.

“Nobody wanted to believe us. When the cops had the car, they wanted us to pick it up. They were like, oh he’s probably just with another woman inside of one of these apartments,” Perrin recalled.

But the Detroit Police department that’s now taking lead, say they are doing everything in their power to find the three men alive.

“We’ve got license plate readers. We’ve got green light cameras and I’m confident that using those tools will help us get the answers that these families deserve,” said Detroit Police Commander Michael McGinnis.

Realistically, Kemp said she understands there is a chance she’ll never see her son alive again. At this point, she just wants closure.

“I wanna lay him to rest and try to move on,” Kemp concluded.

Kelly was recently released from prison but had been turning his life around starting classes at Alpena Community College.

If you know anything about his whereabouts, you can leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak-Up.


About the Author
Victor Williams headshot

Victor Williams joined Local 4 News in October of 2019 after working for WOIO in Cleveland, OH, WLOX News in Biloxi, MS, and WBBJ in Jackson, TN. Victor developed a love for journalism after realizing he was a great speaker and writer at an early age.

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