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Charges possible in Bills, Hill deaths

Courtesy Photo Brynn Bills, of Alpena, poses in this undated photo taken from her Facebook with the permission of her father, Duane Bills, of Fairview.

ALPENA ― Multiple people may soon be charged in the deaths of Alpena women Brynn Bills and Abby Hill, police said.

Detectives have submitted reports about their investigations to Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski, said 1st Lt. John Grimshaw, commander of the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post.

Neither Muszynski nor Grimshaw would name the suspects involved or say how many people police believe to be responsible for the deaths.

Two men linked to both Bills and Hill, Joshua Wirgau and Brad Srebnik, are in jail on charges unrelated to the deaths. Law enforcement officials have previously said both men may be involved in the deaths.

Police consider Srebnik, 35, a primary suspect in both deaths and he was one of the last people seen with both Bills, 17, and Hill, 31, before their disappearances, Muszynski said in court last month.

Police declared Wirgau, 34, a person of interest in Bills’ death after they found her body buried in the yard of Wirgau’s Alpena Township home in September.

Several weeks later, they found Hill’s body in a wooded area in Alpena Township.

Attorneys for Wirgau and Srebnik declined to comment.

Muszynski is working closely with the detectives involved in the investigation to determine how best to proceed, she said on Wednesday morning. She would not speculate on a possible timeline or potential charges.

Police labeled Hill’s death a suspected homicide and called Bills’ death suspicious, pending the results of autopsies. Police have not released those results.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no charges had yet been filed related to either death.

Police say Wirgau, Srebnik, and Hill in mid-September hijacked a tow truck, forcing the driver to transport them at gunpoint from Wirgau’s home to an intersection near a home owned by Srebnik’s relatives.

Wirgau and Srebnik are currently incarcerated in the Alpena County and Presque Isle County jails, respectively, on kidnapping and weapons charges related to that alleged incident.

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