WYOMING, Mich. — A missing mother out of Plainfield Township has been found dead.
The Wyoming Department of Public Safety (WDPS) delivered the tragic update during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
Watch the news conference here:
33-year-old Mollie Schmidt had been missing since August 21, according to the Kent County Sheriff's Office. She was believed to be with 44-year-old Wyoming resident Yenly Garcia.
Public safety officials say Mollie's body was found with an apparent gunshot wound during the execution of a search warrant at Garcia's apartment near 44th Street and Burlingame Avenue on Tuesday, Aug. 30, at which Kent County deputies over turned the investigation over to WDPS.
We're told Mollie's death is now being investigated as a homicide.
"She was always very sweet. Always," Mollie's aunt Lisa McGraw told FOX 17 Wednesday. "She just, she's a ray of sunshine. She was and she's very nurturing, very caring, very human."
"My niece Christy had been over at the apartment this weekend trying to do some things at Mollie's place and she saw a to-do list and one of the notes was, I'm not going to say her daughter's name, but her daughter and first day of school with a heart and a smiley face, so you know that any of those like thoughts that you might have, like I did, like, 'Did she just go somehere?' That sort of thing just destroyed those thoughts," McGraw added.
Garcia has been named a person of interest in Mollie's death, according to WDPS. Garcia is described as being 5'10" tall and weighing roughly 200 pounds with dark-color hair and facial tattoos.
Authorities say Garcia's whereabouts are not currently known, adding he may be driving a black 2019 Dodge Ram with the license plate "ELW6780."
Garcia has a warrant out for his arrest on unrelated charges, public safety officials explained.
He has been in trouble with the law before. Garcia was charged with kidnapping in 2008 and pleaded down to unlawful imprisonment.
Those with knowledge related to the case are urged to connect with investigators at 616-530-7300 or Silent Observer at 1-866-774-2345.
Deputies say Mollie leaves behind five children.
READ MORE: Deputies: Missing Plainfield Twp. mom may be with Wyoming man
