News Photo by Julie Riddle Trooper Robert Mitchell, of the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post, demonstrates processing fingerprints at the post on Thursday.

ALPENA — Rocked by two suspicious deaths announced by police in the span of less than three weeks, Alpena residents want answers.

Meanwhile, police ask questions, continuing an urgent, months-long investigation into the disappearance and deaths of two Alpena women.

The two detectives at the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post currently devote all their working time to investigating the deaths of Brynn Bills and Abby Hill, according to Robert Mitchell, community service trooper for the post.

Starting early and staying late, the detectives write search warrants, talk to witnesses, and follow leads concerning the deaths, with the help of other detectives from the district, Mitchell said.

“They’re not working on some embezzlement right now,” he said. “All that stuff is on the back burner.”

On Thursday morning, detectives met with Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski about the cases, Mitchell said, “making sure that, when they do get a conviction, it’s rock solid, that all these efforts don’t go to nothing.”

On Sept. 29, police announced they found the body of Bills, an Alpena teen who had been missing for nearly two months.

Police made a similarly grim announcement on Oct. 15, confirming they found the body of Hill, whose death they called a probable homicide. Police had declared her missing and possibly endangered 10 days before.

Bills’ death has been ruled suspicious but not a homicide, pending the results of an autopsy.

Police arrested two men, Joshua Wirgau and Brad Srebnik, both on charges police say are unrelated to the deaths.

Since at least late August, when police asked for the public’s help finding Bills, investigators have used every tool to find the women — and, now, to find the person or people who killed them, Mitchell said.

While police will not discuss the specifics of either case, detectives use the same techniques in any search investigation, he said.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media accounts offer a mine of information to police. People often share sensitive parts of their lives online, giving information police can pursue, and are as addicted to scrolling through media feeds as they might be to drugs or alcohol, Mitchell said.

If suspicious circumstances give police probable cause to secure a search warrant for someone’s social media account, metadata shows them not only information posted but also log-ons, when someone has accessed their social media account without posting.

With warrants in hand, police also search financial records, looking for recent credit or debit card purchases or money orders to track a person’s whereabouts.

When social media activity and financial transactions come to a full stop, police suspicions of foul play rise, Mitchell said.

LAST KNOWN LOCATION

The missing person’s last known location, and the circumstances under which they were last seen — whether a person stormed out after a fight, for example, or simply vanished — offer police powerful clues to guide their search.

If the missing person told someone they were afraid before they disappeared, police dig deeper, Mitchell said.

“What were they afraid of?” police ask, he said. “Who were they afraid of? Why were they afraid of them?”

As with most crime investigations, he said, police center their search for information in the small social circle around the person of interest, knocking on the doors of friends, family members, and homes where the person may have stayed.

“Usually, people don’t react positively” to a police officer on their doorstep, Mitchell said. “It depends what kind of lifestyle they live.”

Once people know they’re not in trouble, they usually become eager to help, though in more urban areas, people may fear being seen talking to police, he said.

HIDDEN DETAILS

Police protect some details from any public exposure to protect the integrity of the case. Even families of the missing person receive only some information about the investigation, lest they inadvertently share facts police are trying to keep secret because only the offender would know them, “and then, it’s not a clue anymore,” Mitchell said.

Dramatic police investigations ignite curiosity, and the public eagerly hopes to learn every detail, Mitchell knows.

He’s heard about office bulletin boards filled with news clippings and photos related to the recent Alpena deaths, interconnected by string, their owners trying to untangle the mysteries of the cases on pace with police.

The need to protect a case supersedes the public’s desire to know the whole story, however, Mitchell said.

“Quite frankly, we’re trying to find justice for someone,” he said. “Not trying to entertain people.”

TIPS

Callers still share tips about both deaths, and police welcome them.

Though they already know some of the information shared, detectives follow up on all leads, talking to people and trying to find as many pieces to the puzzle as they can.

Some tipsters share a rumor police already know to be wrong, Mitchell said.

“When someone calls in a tip, I’d love to tell them, ‘No, it’s not true. I appreciate your call,'” he admitted. “When you know the importance of why we don’t tell, it’s not as bad” to keep such secrets.

‘NOT TYPICAL’

Police receive reports of missing people all the time, he said. Usually, the missing person reappears soon after, often having deliberately chosen to fly under the radar for a time.

“This is not a typical missing persons situation,” he said. “This is the one that makes parents terrified to let their children out of the house. But this does not happen all the time.”

Alpena residents live in a safe community, he insisted. Local police, unlike their big-city counterparts, are not overwhelmed with violent crime and can throw all their resources at cases like those currently under investigation in Alpena.

“Statistically speaking, we’re safe,” he said. “Statistically speaking, you shouldn’t worry about your children being murdered just because they’re an hour late coming home.”

Police have selfish motivations to work hard on such cases, he thinks.

“We don’t want our town to turn into Detroit,” he said. “We don’t want our children going missing and nobody can figure out what happened.”