LENAWEE COUNTY (WXYZ) — Dee Warner's sister-in-law Shelley Hardy took us to the barn on Dale and Dee Warner's Lenawee County property where remains were found on Sunday.
The remains were found inside one of what is a line of anhydrous tanks.
On Wednesday the remains were positively identified as being Dee Warner.
It's a massive break in the case that immediate family has waited 3 1/2 years for, being very open about their belief that Dee's husband Dale is the one that killed her.
Shelley said they now believe Dale brought the tank into this barn after Dee's death, took off the front part, put Dee's remains inside, and welded it shut.
It was Shelley's husband, Dee's brother Gregg Hardy, who tipped police off recently that they should investigate the tanks.
Gregg and one of Dee's daughters, Rikkell Bock addressed the media regarding the findings on Thursday.
"It was certainly tough for the family to face my sister’s remains in a man-made tomb done by Dale Warner, who is a very evil piece of human debris," said a tearful Gregg.
In the years since Dee went missing thousands have continued to look for clues, including the group "Justice for Dee" to which Gregg partially attributed the recent finding.
To everyone who has helped, Bock herself said, "I cannot begin to thank you guys enough for sticking by our side and believing in us when we didn’t want to believe in ourselves anymore."
Bock said now that the family has Dee's remains, they will be able to have a family burial service at Dee's grave site.
Dale Warner is due back in court to face murder charges in Dee Warner's death in the coming weeks.
Any true closure for the family will be a long time coming, but at least now Dee's body, and any rumor that she ran away, can be laid to rest.
"Her spirit has gone a long ways," said Gregg.
Shelley said; "I think we knew that spirit and we weren’t going to give up on her. We were gonna fight till the end, and we’re still gonna fight till the end to see that she gets her justice due."
