Police: Suspect arrested in Chelsea Bruck murder case
A 27-year-old Newport man has been arrested and will be charged with open murder in the death of Chelsea Bruck, Monroe County Sheriff Dale Malone said Friday night.
The Sheriff’s Office made the arrest Friday after Michigan State Police crime lab provided evidence that connected the 27-year-old Newport man to the Bruck case, Malone said. The sheriff would not identify the suspect.
The 22-year-old Bruck was last spotted alive Oct. 26, 2014, at a Halloween party in Frenchtown Township dressed as Batman supervillain Poison Ivy. Her body was found April 24, 2015, about 12 miles away in a wooded lot on Briar Hill in Ash Township after five months of extensive searching.
Surveillance was set up at the suspect’s home, and he was taken into custody at 2:55 p.m. Friday and interviewed, Malone said.
“During that interview, detectives obtained details that only the killer could have known,” the sheriff said.
The arrested man is being held at Monroe County Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Malone said.
Bruck’s family was notified at 9 p.m. Friday and requested their privacy but will release a statement later, the sheriff said.
The announcement was made at a quickly called 11 p.m. news conference. Malone took no questions after making his statement.
In June, approximately a year after Bruck’s funeral, the Sheriff’s Office released photos of a man believed to have attended the gathering, suspecting he had additional information for the investigation.
“He was known to have spent time under the tent near the front of the stage where the bands played while at the party,” sheriff’s officials said in a statement at the time.
Within hours, the Sheriff’s Office had identified and contacted the individual. No other details were released and an arrest was not made.
“Please remember that we are continuing our investigation and this is another part of the process,” department officials wrote in the Facebook post last month.
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