Justie Stilwell, hard of hearing man, brutally murdered
Justie Stilwell, a 41-year-old deaf / hard of hearing man who lived in Bay City, Michigan, was brutally murdered with his arms and legs chopped off. A suspect has not yet been identified. A suspect was arrested yesterday (Wednesday).
MLive.com reported that Justie worked as a janitor at the Handy Middle School. The school district said “Justie was a valued member of our family and we know that this loss will be felt deeply by many.”
Those who knew him said he was a sweet and kind person.
According to news reports, Justie’s family reported him missing last Wednesday, September 18 after he didn’t show up for work for several days and was unresponsive to his family’s attempts to contact him.
On that same day, a teenage girl who was at a boat launch near a river saw a human foot in the water. Her grandfather called 911 and posted on Facebook that he found a hand and a foot. Law enforcement recovered the body parts and as they searched the river, they found severed arms and legs that belonged to Justie. Fingerprints were used to identify the remains as Justie. His car was found in a park across the river.
Police later said they found a head and torso that they believe is Justie’s at another location in Bay City. Police said they are no longer looking for more remains, which means they likely have recovered Justie’s whole body.
A funeral home listed Justie Stilwell’s death as September 16, 2024 (last Monday). There was a comment on the funeral home’s website from a person who said they were Justie’s family member that expressed grief, saying he was the “best great cousin and best janitor ever.”
The identity of the suspect who was arrested has not been revealed by MLive.com but the newspaper said they would reveal it after the suspect faces his arraignment hearing. The suspect was arrested on the 100 block of Elm Street in Bay City.
Police did not explain what the relationship was between Justie and the suspect. There were many online comments by those who said they knew Justie who suggested the two met through a gay dating app. Some are concerned that this is a hate crime.
The suspect may have been located after police searched through Justie’s cellphone and social media accounts.
One person sent a message to “The Daily Moth” that Justie is deaf/ hard of hearing and that none of the news outlets or announcements from police mentioned this. The person said Justie was a part of their small group of deaf friends and that he was hard of hearing and signed. I looked through Justie’s Facebook profile and saw that he posted a picture of himself as a young schoolboy and he was wearing hearing aids.
This person who contacted “The Daily Moth” said they want for the public to be safe and be aware that there is dangers out there when it comes to dating apps.
I’ll provide an update whenever the suspected killer is identified.
https://www.facebook.com/BayCityDepartmentofPublicSafety
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4O_93RGvx4
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