Police: Body Found in Home Is Missing Michigan Woman Ashley Young

Ashley Young in a file photo. (Ashley Young/Facebook)

Grand Rapids Police say a body that was discovered earlier this week is that of a missing woman, Ashley Young.

Grand Rapids Police issued a statement on Twitter: “Update of death investigation involving female remains: DNA has positively identified them of the missing 31 yo Kalamazoo County woman, Ashley Young.”

Officials have notified her family, Fox17 reported.

She was known to be traveling to Grand Rapids from Kalamazoo on Thursday, Nov. 29 when she disappeared. She was seen last at Mulligan’s Pub in the Eastown neighborhood at around 1:30 a.m.

Officials discovered a mutilated body at a home on Dec. 2.

Jared Chance was arrested on Dec. 2 for mutilation and concealing the death of an individual.

The family of Young told WOOD-TV that she was last seen with Chance. “Jared chance is thought to be the last person my cousin Ashley Young (Leelee Young) was with before she came up missing. Please help us bring her home,” family member Amanda Young also wrote on Facebook.

Chance and Young were also Facebook friends, and friends of Young shared photos of the two together, MLive reported.

“It was learned through our investigation that Jared was with a female acquaintance two days prior and that that female acquaintance was since reported as a missing person and she has not to this date been located,” Grand Rapids police told WOOD-TV.

Officials have not released a cause of death, WKZO reported.

Chance is being held on a $750,000 bond, the report said.

The investigation into the case is ongoing. Anyone with additional knowledge is being asked to contact police in Grand Rapids.

“No further statements regarding any details about current media reports will come from this page. Please respect that decision by not posting your theories or opinions about the circumstances, nor your guesses or your online research regarding this case. We hope that you are still willing stand with us helping us in our efforts to find her as her family wishes us to,” wrote the Help Us Find Ashley Young Facebook page.

“Be patient, be kind, have love and compassion for those whom you wish to seek information for and about,” they added, saying, “Again, thank you for your support, keep this family in your prayers.”

Violent Crime Declines in 2017

The FBI says that in 2017 violent crime had dropped by 0.2 percent, according to a release, but aggravated and rape offenses increased by a respective 1.0 percent and 2.5 percent. The murder rate dropped by 0.7 percent, the agency said.

“In 2017, there were an estimated 1,247,321 violent crimes. The estimated number of robbery offenses decreased 4.0 percent, and the estimated number of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses decreased 0.7 percent when compared with estimates from 2016. The estimated volume of aggravated assault and rape (revised definition) offenses increased 1.0 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively,” said the FBI.

The agency added: “By violent crime offense, the arrest rate for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter was 3.8 per 100,000 inhabitants; rape (aggregate total using the revised and legacy definition), 7.2; robbery, 29.3; and aggravated assault, 120.4 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Meanwhile, the FBI said that there are now 670,279 sworn officers and 286,662 civilian officers in the U.S, which is a rate of 3.4 employees per 1,000 inhabitants.