Shivangi Sinha
In April 2021, Rickell Bock was supposed to meet her mother, Dee Warner, for breakfast, but the latter never showed up. Rickell immediately sensed that something was wrong and reported her mother missing. What followed were nearly two years of extensive searches across Dee’s farm in Franklin Township, Michigan, as investigators tried to uncover what had happened. As time passed without any sign of Dee, her family became convinced that she had come to harm and eventually petitioned to have her legally declared dead. It was on that very same farm that her remains were ultimately discovered in August 2024. The episode titled ‘The “No Body” Case of Dee Warner’ of CBS’ ’48 Hours’ traces the entire investigation and explores the evidence that ultimately led to the perpetrator’s arrest.
Dee Warner’s Remains Were Found Inside a Fertilizer Tank Two Years After Her Passing
Dee Ann Hardy was born on July 29, 1968, to Raynor Carl Hardy and Wanda Luella Hardy in Tecumseh, Michigan. She and her brother, Gregg Hardy, grew up in a farming family and remained connected to the community. They both eventually built their own lives there as well. Dee later married Tim Bock, and together they welcomed four children: Amber, T.J., Zack, and Rickell Bock. Although their marriage was filled with many happy moments, it also faced its share of challenges. When Dee began working with Dale Warner at a custom fertilizer application company, issues arose in her marriage to Tim, and it ultimately fell apart. Dale was also married at the time to Julie and had a son with her.
One thing led to another, and Tim and Julie eventually started a relationship, and Dee and Dale also began dating publicly. The two married in 2006 and started a new chapter together, both personally and professionally. Dee and Dale were encouraged by their success in the fertilizer industry and soon decided to venture out on their own. Together, they established three businesses: a trucking company that employed about 15 people, a crop farming operation, and a chemical company. Of the three, their trucking business proved to be especially successful. Dee looked over the larger administrative operations.
Dee’s children, including Rickell, lived nearby and frequently visited her, often bringing her grandchildren along. In 2012, Dee and Dale welcomed their youngest daughter, Angalena Warner, and it appeared that life had once again settled into a happy rhythm. However, on April 25, 2021, when Rickell arrived at her mother’s home for their customary weekly breakfast, Dee was nowhere to be found. Alarmed by her unexplained absence, Rickell immediately contacted the authorities. More than three years later, on August 17, 2024, Dee’s remains were discovered inside a sealed anhydrous ammonia fertilizer tank on the Franklin Township, Michigan, farm where she had lived. The cause of her death was determined to be strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.
The Killer Gave Conflicting Accounts to Police Before His Arrest
On April 25, 2021, when Rickell Bock could not find her mother at the family farm, she spoke with Dale Warner and asked whether he knew where Dee was. He reportedly told her that he had seen his wife that morning while she was still asleep before leaving the house. According to Dale, when he returned later, she was gone. Their then nine-year-old daughter, Angalena Warner, had spent the previous night at a friend’s house, and the situation immediately felt unusual to Rickell. She believed it was completely out of character for her mother to leave without telling anyone, and she contacted the police. Dale gave investigators a similar account and also claimed that Dee had been using a second cell phone, which he had only recently discovered. Detectives later noted that he appeared unconcerned during their interactions and repeatedly suggested that his wife would return on her own.
Dale also told investigators that there had been some friction within the household because of their businesses and that Dee had been under considerable stress as a result. Even so, her family firmly believed that those issues could never have been enough to make Dee walk away from her life, especially from her young daughter. Just four days later, police executed a search warrant at the farm but found no evidence. During this round of questioning, Dale slightly altered his account by telling detectives that he and Dee had argued on the night of April 24. When Dee’s family also realized that he had given them different versions of events, they grew increasingly suspicious of him. Dee’s family said that she had allegedly been in an abusive relationship and believed she had been trying to leave Dale.
They were not surprised by investigative claims that she had been having an affair, and reportedly told detectives they believed Dee may have sent her young daughter away on April 24 so she could have a serious conversation with Dale about ending their marriage. According to the family, that confrontation may have turned violent. In September 2022, with Dee still missing despite multiple searches of the farm, her family petitioned to have her legally declared dead. In November 2023, Dale was arrested and charged with open murder based largely on circumstantial evidence, though he pleaded not guilty. Investigators continued searching the property, and in August 2024, Dee’s remains were finally located and identified. Despite maintaining his innocence, Dale was found guilty of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence by a jury in March 2026.
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