MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – Ashley Elkins, a 30-year-old mother of two from Warren, has been missing since Jan. 2, and even though presumed dead, her family is desperate for answers.
They believe her ex-boyfriend, 32-year-old Deandre Booker, knows what happened.
“We want Ashley home, and when I say that, I mean we want her body to be found,” said Maurice Morton, Elkins’s uncle.
Booker, who was in a relationship with Elkins for about a year, was arraigned Thursday, Jan. 9 for lying to police.
Prosecutors said Booker attempted to flee to Flint and that his Google search history suggested he was planning his escape.
“While he was in Flint, he accessed the Internet and searched for such things as ‘fastest routes to Ohio,’ ‘What to do on the run,’ ‘Is blood traceable,’ ‘How to beat a polygraph,’ and ‘Deleting Google history,’” said Det. Lesperance.
“It shows how he was calculated, that this was premeditated. It shows the monster that he is,” said Morton.
Police said Elkins’ phone last pinged inside Booker’s Roseville apartment.
A dumpster was also removed from his home, and her car was found just a few miles away. Based on physical evidence, police are certain that “a violent act occurred.”
While Elkins’ mother says her family once embraced Booker, she ended the relationship in September after discovering troubling behavior.
Monika Elkins said Booker created multiple fake Facebook accounts — “six or seven” — and his actions became increasingly possessive.
“That’s when we started realizing something wasn’t right with him,” Monika said.
Monika added that Booker exhibited controlling tendencies, including going through Elkins’ phone.
After the breakup, he began following her, booking hair appointments under fake names through her website, and showing up uninvited at her home.
And the day Ashley went missing, her mother had a gut feeling something was wrong.
“She replied back, ‘Awe man,’ which was weird to me, so I FaceTimed her. She didn’t answer,” Monika said. “That was him. I believe he had her when she walked out of that front door.”
Booker is currently being held on a $250,000 cash bond and has been ordered to wear a GPS tether if he posts bail.
Police said he has a history of larceny, going AWOL in the army, and fraud.
Roseville police said they plan to appeal the bond if he can pay but hope to increase the charges against Booker in the coming days. Police were back inside Bookers' apartment Thursday afternoon.
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