MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) – A Muskegon County abduction suspect had syringes, handcuffs and a rope inside his van, according to Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson.
In court Wednesday, Hilson said a search of Jeffrey Thomas Willis’ van uncovered a secret compartment that held multiple syringes containing a liquid that appeared to be a sedative. Hilson said during the search, investigators also recovered handcuffs and a rope from the silver minivan.
“This was a vehicle designed to not only to kidnap but also take sexual advantage of women,” Hilson said during Willis’ arraignment.
Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler described what was found inside the van’s secret compartment as “different items of bondage.”
“Police-style handcuffs, if you will, rope, some other restraint type bars,” he continued. “The syringes that we feel were used or would have been used to sedate or overcome a victim.”
Hilson said investigators are following up on leads that may also connect Willis to the disappearance of Jessica Heeringa and murder of Rebekah Bletsch.
As Willis was walked into court, WOOD asked what he planned to do with the teen he allegedly tried to abduct and if he had anything to do with the disappearance of Jessica Heeringa. Willis did not respond.
Bletsch was found on the side of Automobile Road southeast of Whitehall on June 29, 2014. She had been shot three times in the back of the head and had bruises to her wrists, hands, back and a leg, search warrants revealed. Bletsch regularly jogged in that area, which is near her home.
Heeringa vanished April 26, 2013 from her job at the ExxonMobil gas station on Sternberg Road in Norton Shores. She left behind her purse, cigarettes, money and her car. Investigators later found a few drops of blood outside the gas station.
A silver minivan similar in description to Willis’ was captured on area surveillance cameras the night Heeringa disappeared.
“It is my opinion that Mr. Willis poses an extreme danger to our public to our county to the citizens in it,” Hilson added.
Willis was charged Wednesday with felony kidnapping, assault with a dangerous weapon and felony firearm in connection to the April 16 abduction of a 16-year-old girl in Fruitland Township.
The victim said she got lost while walking home that morning. A vehicle stopped and the driver offered her his cellphone, she said.
She told authorities she got into his vehicle, but the driver pulled away and wouldn’t let her use his cellphone.
The victim said she asked to be let out, but the driver locked the doors and continued driving. She told authorities she saw the man reach for what appeared to be a handgun. That’s when she unlocked the door and jumped out of the moving vehicle.
“I really thought he was going to kill me and I thought he was going to take me. I was just scared,” the teen said in an exclusive interview with WOOD Tuesday.
According to the court complaint, Willis is accused of kidnapping or knowingly restraining the teen with the intent to commit a sex assault.
If convicted on the kidnapping charge alone, Willis could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Willis appeared without a lawyer at Wednesday’s arraignment.
Based on the charges filed against him, Willis’ DNA was collected at his arrest, according to Hilson.
State, county and city police also searched a Norton Shores property connected to Willis Wednesday morning. Sheriff Roesler said crime lab technicians took samples from the wall of the relatively empty, dilapidated building on Bailey Street.
Judge Kostrzewa set Willis’ bond at $1 million. His next court hearing is scheduled for May 26.