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Authorities are searching for the remains of a missing Black woman in Michigan after her ex-boyfriend was arrested for lying to police, per PEOPLE.
On Monday (January 13), officers searched for the body of 30-year-old Ashley Elikins at the Pine Tree Acres Landfill in Macomb County's Lenox Township following her January 2 disappearance.
Roseville Police Chief Mitch Berlin said 40 to 50 officers searched the landfill after authorities gathered evidence leading them to the location.
“We traced (our evidence) from Roseville all the way here, and then worked with engineers and Waste Management surveyors to pinpoint an approximate six, seven-acre parcel where evidence would be located,” Berlin said.
The search comes after Elkins, a hairstylist and mother of two, was last spotted leaving her Warren, Michigan home on January 2. On January 8, DeAndre Howard Booker, Elkins' ex-boyfriend, was arrested on charges of lying to police following a search of his home in Roseville. During the search, police found several items including a trash dumpster and Elkins' vehicle, which was parked near Booker's home.
Investigators believe Elkins was at Booker's home before her disappearance and a "crime of violence" took place there.
Elkins' mother, Monika, told local outlets that before her daughter's disappearance, Booker went to his ex-girlfriend's home after scheduling a hair appointment under a fake name.
"He knocked on the front door and the side door and he left," Monika said, "And here, it's... days later and she's gone."
Berlin said authorities from several agencies, including Warren, Shelby Township, Chesterfield Townships, and Macomb County investigators, will continue to search for Elkins' remains in the landfill on Tuesday (January 14).
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