Bodies Believed to Be Three Michigan Rappers Missing Found in Abandoned Apartment (UPDATE)

Detroit police say three Michigan rappers haven't been seen or heard from since their scheduled performance at a club was canceled 11 days ago.

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UPDATED, Feb. 3 10:10 a.m. ET: Three bodies found in Highland Park, Michigan are believed to be rappers who went missing following a canceled concert almost two weeks ago.

Per Fox 2 Detroit, authorities discovered three bodies at an apartment complex that match the description of the three men, 31-year-old Montoya Givens, 31-year-old Dante Wicker, and 28-year-old Armani Kelly. Police found the bodies on Thursday (Feb. 2), and the investigation is ongoing. Investigators were led to the location after the victims’ cellular dota pinged an area near an abandoned apartment complex. The bodies were found in the basement of the building beneath construction equipment, and they had appeared to have been shot, The Detroit News reported.

"We still need to get the search warrant and have the lab get there before we can start to search the building. It's an abandoned apartment, but there are a lot of squatters inside," said Lt. Mike Shaw of Michigan State Police. "We haven't identified any victims. People like to jump to conclusions—I don't guess. I don't have time for that."  

Givens’ mother has indicated that she was informed about the discovery of the bodies on Thursday. "They told me they found the three bodies," she said. "I don't know what I'm going to do; how I'm going to bury him." Kelly's mother added that she was informed of the bodies, too, but police did not identify them.

The news comes after police arrested a 15-year-old who was seen driving Kelly’s 2017 Chevrolet Equinox without a license plate. The teenager alleged they were instructed by a man to pick up the car, and upon checking his cellphone records they were led to a man in Ashton, Detroit. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant for alleged fraud, and he was taken into custody for questioning. Another video obtained by authorities appeared to show a man wearing gloves cleaning out the same vehicle.

See original story from 2/1/23 below.

Three Michiganrappers have been reported missing since their scheduled performance at a bar was canceled nearly two weeks ago.

Montoya Givens, Armani Kelly, and Dante Wicker were expected to perform on Jan. 21 when their gig at Lounge 31 in Detroit was nixed due to an equipment issue, according to the Associated Press.

Kelly’s profile on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database, NBC News reports, provides a few details regarding his whereabouts prior to their performance. He contacted his family at 5 p.m. to let them know that their show had been canceled, adding that he was either going to met with friends or find somewhere else to perform.

Kelly’s mother Lorrie Kemp filed a missing persons report the following morning. Kemp later discovered through the vehicle’s tracking service that Kelly’s car was located 15 miles north of Detroit in Warren. Authorities are looking to “extract data” from the car’s computer.

Cell phone records do not show any activity beyond early Jan. 22. It’s unclear at the moment if the three men ever made it to Lounge 31.

“Usually it’s when you deal with an adult that’s missing it’s usually one person. … In this case, the fact that the three of them are missing together is very concerning and very alarming for us,” Detroit Police Commander Michael McGinnis told reporters on Monday.

Kemp told WDIV that she’s resigned to the idea that he may be dead, and simply wants to retrieve his body, so he can be laid to rest.

“We just have a whole lot of unanswered questions that we’re trying to find out, finding answers for, so we can find these victims—or these individuals, and we don’t know that they’re victims,” McGinnis said. “We want to find them and get them home to their loved ones.”

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