PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Portage police held a news conference Thursday afternoon, saying that their investigation into missing couple, Gary and Laura Johnson, has shifted from a missing persons case to what is likely a homicide investigation.
“Hopefully they are alive and we are totally wrong. But what we are seeing and what we are finding is leading us to believe they are not alive.” – Portage Public Safety Chief Nicholas Armold
Armold gave very few details about what exactly they have found at their Romence Rd. home that police have been camped out at for days as well as other places where they have been investigating. He says that their son, Nicholas Johnson, is now considered a person of interest in the case while he remains in jail on separate charges of outstanding warrants. Nicholas had been charged in 2019 for an assault at the home of the Johnsons. The Portage couple had feared for their safety and others related to their son’s behavior and even had a personal protection order from him issued.
Armold also says while they still hope that somehow the couple is alive somewhere, it just doesn’t make sense that they would disappear.
“There still isn’t any rational explanation, at all, as to why they are not home or why we can’t find them. There’s none whatsoever. We have their cars. We have their phones.”
Nicholas Johnson was a known parole absconder, and was arraigned Wednesday for charges of felony firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm. During that arraignment, Judge Richard Santoni set a bond for him at $100,000, adding that amount was partly due to the disappearance of his parents.
Officers were sent to the home Tuesday. After multiple attempts to make contact with anyone inside the home, and during a walk around the outside of the home, officers became suspicious and concerned for the Johnson’s well-being. It was decided that entry would be made into the home. Once inside, officers found what they described as signs of violence.
Despite what looks like a grim turn in the case, investigators are still asking the public to contact Portage police with any detail, big or small, that could help in the case. We will continue to update this story as details become available.
Comments