Son and husband face charges after Michigan woman’s remains found in sealed tank on husband’s property

The remains of Dee Warner, missing in Lenawee County, MI, since 2021, were found in August last year, sealed in a tank in a barn on her husband’s property. Last November, Warner’s husband, Dale Warner, was charged with his wife’s murder, and this month, Dee and Dale’s son, Jaron Warner, has been arraigned on evidence tampering and accessory charges related to the case.

Dee, 52, was reported missing in April, 2021 after she told her friends she had plans to meet her husband, according to ClickonDetroit. After Dee disappeared, Dale admitted he and Dee were fighting about money and infidelity, and court records revealed Dee planned to ask Dale for a divorce when she went to meet him and was never seen again. Dale reportedly owned several properties near Tipton, MI, where the Warner family lives, and the barn where Warner’s remains were found was not the same property where her house was located.

Dale pleaded not guilty to murder charges in November. As for Jaron, he pleaded not guilty in March this year to evidence tampering and accessory charges. Jaron’s attorney has requested evidence tampering charges be dropped. The judge in the case said she will announce her decision at a later court appearance.

Dee was found based on her brother’s tip

It’s unclear if Dale’s property where his wife’s remains were found had been searched before. But according to Dee’s brother, Gregg Hardy, after noticing suspicious activity, he recommended police look in the anhydrous tanks used in the Warner family business. The tanks were kept in the barn, which, as X-rays revealed, had been his sister’s tomb for three years.

Hardy told ClickonDetroit, referring to the tanks where Dee was found, that Dale, “in the dark of night, in a building that had no cameras — [slid] her body in there, put the end cap back on it,” and then welded the tank shut, typically used to store ammonia. There were no chemicals inside the tank where Dee was found.

Hardy then alleged Dale attached the tank to a chassis, painted it, and even had “the gall to put his logo on it to make it look like it was normal, and then took it and stored it with other tanks, like it was just another one of the fleet,” Hardy said.

While Dee was still missing, her family petitioned the court to declare her officially dead. According to CBS News, Rikkell Bock, Dee’s daughter from a previous relationship, told a judge at a hearing related to the request that Dee and Dale’s relationship was “extremely toxic.”

“She would never leave my little sister,” Bock said in court. “She would never leave us adult grown kids, especially her grandkids. My mom was very involved in our life. She never missed an opportunity.” It’s unclear if Dee’s official cause of death will ever be determined.

Jaron, Dee, and Dale’s son is reportedly the temporary legal guardian of his half-sister, a minor, and Dale and Dee’s daughter. They now live in the house where Dee and Dale lived. After his March 10 probable cause hearing, Jaron was released on a $125,000 bond. Dale’s trial is expected to start in September.