DETROIT – Three Michigan rappers are still missing 11 days after they canceled a performance in Detroit and stopped responding to messages from loved ones.
UPDATE: Police identify 3 bodies found in Highland Park as missing Michigan rappers
Armani Kelly, Montoya Givens, and Dante Wicker were supposed to perform Jan. 21 at Lounge 31 on Gratiot Avenue on Detroit’s east side. The show was abruptly canceled because of an equipment problem, according to police.
Taylor Perrin, Kelly’s fiance, said he hasn’t answered texts, calls, or social media messages since the night of the canceled show.
“It’s just been a nightmare that I want to wake up from, and I want my fiance home,” Perrin said. “He didn’t deserve any of this, and I just pray that he’s somewhere out there. We need him.”
Police from Detroit, Warren, Melvindale, and Oscoda are involved in the investigation.
“We just have a whole lot of unanswered questions that we’re trying to find the answer to,” Detroit police Cmdr. Michael McGinnis told the Associated Press. “The fact that the three of them are missing together is very concerning and very alarming for us.”
Kelly, 28, is also known as Marley Whoop. He was with Wicker, of Melvindale, and Givens at the time of their disappearances.
“It breaks my heart,” Kelly’s mother, Lorrie Kemp, said. “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?”
Police are checking security tapes and license plate readers to try to solve the mystery.
“I just beg for help, for anything,” Perrin said. “I need answers, and if it comes to it, I need closure, because I will never forget and I will never stop.”
Kemp traveled from Oscoda, Michigan, using OnStar to track the vehicle her son was driving.
“The next day, I went by myself and canvassed on Gratiot and stayed there until dusk passing out flyers,” Kemp said.
Kelly’s vehicle was seen in several locations before being left at an apartment complex in Warren. That’s where police found it empty, they said.
“Nobody wanted to believe us,” Perrin said. “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.’”
Detroit police have taken the lead on the investigation, and officials said they’re doing everything in their power to find the three men.
“We’ve got license plate readers,” McGinnis said. “We’ve got Green Light cameras, and I’m confident that using those tools will help us get the answers that these families deserve.”
Kemp said she knows there’s a chance she won’t see her son again. If that’s the case, she still wants closure.
“I want to lay him to rest and try to move on,” Kemp said.
Kelly was taking classes at Alpena Community College and working toward a rapping career.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. Callers will remain anonymous.
