PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The boyfriend of missing Portage mother Heather Kelley changed his plea to “guilty” in a case involving his alleged escape from a halfway house in Kalamazoo late last year.
According to court documents, Kelley’s boyfriend at the time Carlos Vance Watts Jr. was staying at Kalamazoo Probation Enhancement Program, otherwise known at KPEP on drug charges until his escape on December 12, 2022, just two days after the 35-year-old mother of eight went missing when she left her home around 9 p.m. on December 10.
Deputies say Kelley called her children around 10:30 to tell them she would return home soon but never did. Her vehicle was found abandoned the next day at North Sprinkle Road and East Michigan Avenue in Comstock Township.
Authorities say her whereabouts remain unknown, and her disappearance is being investigated as a homicide.
Although not yet charged in the case, federal attorneys say Watts met with his brother a day after Kelly went missing. He is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, November 3rd.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a $20,000 reward in exchange for information on Heather’s location.
