Hours after a prosecutor announced involuntary manslaughter charges against the parents of Ethan Crumbley, the 15-year-old accused of killing four fellow students at a Michigan high school, authorities said Friday that the parents are missing.
A vehicle matching the description of the black Kia Seltos connected to James and Jennifer Crumbley was found late Friday in Detroit, which is about 40 miles from Oxford, the scene of the deadly shooting on Tuesday, officials said.
A police perimeter was set up but law enforcement have not yet located the Crumbleys, who are considered fugitives, Detroit police spokesperson Rudy Harper told CNN.
The US Marshals Service is helping local authorities search for the couple and has offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information that could lead to their arrest.
A law enforcement official told CNN the parents withdrew $4,000 from an ATM in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on Friday. Rochester Hills is about 10 to 15 miles from Oxford.
Law enforcement had been able to track the couple’s whereabouts by cell phone pings but can no longer do so as the couple’s cell phones are turned off, the official said.
The source did not specify when the phones were turned off.
Prosecutors were worried about the couple evading law enforcement because they didn’t have ties to their community, and officials had trouble locating the Crumbley couple once their son was being arraigned, the source added.
The parents’ arraignment had been scheduled for late Friday afternoon. But as of Friday evening, the parents were still missing, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan.
Undersheriff Michael McCabe told CNN a sergeant with the county’s fugitive task force had spoken with one of the attorneys, who said she had not talked with the parents.
The undersheriff said he is confident the couple will be found, and it’s a “matter of when.”
In earlier twist, two attorneys who say they represent the couple released a statement saying the Crumbleys had left town for their safety and are returning for an arraignment.