Wyoming police have identified the man whose body was found Wednesday, and say the woman who was last seen with him Saturday is being considered a missing person.
Charles Gerard Oppenneer’s body was found by Wyoming police officers around noon Wednesday near Gezon Parkway.
His girlfriend Brooke Ann Slocum, 18, was last seen with the 25-year-old at a Grand Rapids house on Saturday evening, according to Wyoming police. Family said Slocum is eight months pregnant with Oppenneer’s child.
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“Obviously, we’re very concerned because she was last seen with Charles,” Wyoming police Capt. Kim Koster said. “Therefore we want to talk to her. We want to determine her location and whether or not she is safe.”
Slocum’s father Greg Slocum said his daughter was living with her boyfriend. He said no one has heard from her since about 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
He said if his daughter was planning to go away, she would not have left behind her dog or laptop — both of which he said were found at her apartment.
“I just know I need to find my daughter. She’s eight and a half months pregnant and that’s my firstborn girl, and my firstborn grandchild with her, granddaughter,” Greg Slocum said. “And I really need her to be home.”
Slocum said his daughter has never gone missing before.
“This just can’t be happening. This is what you see on the news all the time and you never think it is going to be you,” he said.
Slocum is described as being 5-foot-3 and 110 pounds, and has teal blue hair and green eyes. An earlier release said Slocum’s hair was brown. Anyone with information about her whereabouts should call police at 616.530.730 or Silent Observer at 616.774.2345.
Oppenneer’s body was found in a wooded area near Gezon Court after the officers checked on an abandoned vehicle in the area. Details regarding how long his body had been in there and how he died were not released.
Thursday, a Michigan State Police helicopter flew a pattern over the area where Oppenneer’s body was found.
“We have been searching the scene for clues of any evidence regarding this homicide,” Koster said.
Wednesday, police said they were looking for a couple in a white SUV who said something to an officer at a gas station near Gezon Park over the weekend. Thursday, police said they found that couple and that speaking to them helped establish a timeline.
Police declined to discuss what Oppenneer’s Thursday autopsy revealed. They directed focus toward finding Slocum.
“I’m not going to go into case facts, but I do want to reach out to the public to ask them for help in this, in locating Brooke,” Koster said. “We’re just really concerned that Brooke hasn’t been seen since Charles went missing. Now that we have located him, we’re very concerned about her safety. And if anyone has information that could tell us where she is at or what happened, we’d appreciate a call to Silent Observer or the Wyoming Police Department.”
Slocum’s family members gathered at their Saranac home Thursday before heading to Wyoming to form a search party and pass out flyers, hoping that someone may know where she is.
Gezon Park was closed Thursday and events there scheduled for this weekend were cancelled. Wyoming police said they did not have plans to search the area again, but were leaving the possibility open.
