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Police: Body found believed to be Abby Hill

Courtesy Photo Abby Hill is seen in this undated photo provided by the Michigan State Police.

ALPENA TOWNSHIP — Police believe they have recovered the body of missing Alpena woman Abby Hill, the Michigan State Police reported on Saturday on Twitter.

On Friday afternoon, State Police detectives and members of the State Police Crime Lab searched a wooded area in Alpena Township and discovered the remains of a woman they believe to be Hill, 31, according to police.

Police suspect Hill died by homicide. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

Police said they will release no other information at this time.

* RELATED: Bryn Bills, Abby Hill investigation: What we know so far

Police on Oct. 5 said Hill had gone missing and was possibly in danger after family members filed a missing person report.

Hill was a Facebook friend of Brynn Bills, an Alpena teenager whose body police found last month buried behind an Alpena Township home owned by Joshua Wirgau. Bills had been missing since early August.

Police consider Bills’ death suspicious but have not yet declared it a homicide, pending the results of an autopsy.

Hill was wanted by police on charges of unlawful imprisonment and felonious possession of a firearm related to an alleged Sept. 21 holdup in Alpena Township.

According to court records, Hill, Wirgau, and another man, Brad Srebnik, allegedly forced a man to drive them from Naylor Road to a nearby rural intersection.

Police said Wirgau called the man for a ride, then he, Hill, and Srebnik got into the man’s vehicle, all armed with firearms. Wirgau pointed a gun at the man’s head and demanded he take them to an area near the intersection of Lacomb and Haken roads, according to court records.

The trio then got out of the vehicle, leaving the man uninjured, according to police.

See the tweet below from the Michigan State Police. Story continues below.

Police would not say whether the three knew the man or release any other details about the alleged incident.

Both Wirgau and Srebnik have been arraigned on multiple felonies related to the alleged incident. Both men are being held in local county jails on $500,000 bonds on those charges.

Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski told The News she would not speculate about possible additional charges for Wirgau or Srebnik related to either woman’s death.

Police have said they have multiple persons of interest in the Bills death investigation, including Wirgau, but no official suspects.

In late August, Crime Stoppers offered a $1,000 reward for information leading police to Hill, who was then wanted on a warrant out of Alpena for failure to appear for a court matter. Police arrested Hill on Sept. 15 — six days before the alleged holdup — on that warrant.

They released her the next day, as is typical in such cases.

Check back for updates.

Check out the interactive timeline of police’s investigation into the deaths of Brynn Bills and Abby Hill.

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