MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — The latest in the Jeffrey Willis’ trial for the murder of Rebekah Bletsch:
1:30 p.m. – Jurors heard from two more witnesses before another break.
Jerry Vanderstelt, who owns Van’s Car Wash and Quick Lube testified about a receipt indicating Jeffrey Willis got an oil change for his 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan at the Apple Avenue location at 8:45 a.m. on April 16, 2016 – the day of the teen’s attempted abduction.
Deputy Jeff Blatmer also testified he found shoes, scuff marks and a .22 long rifle round on Green Creek Road after the alleged abduction attempt. He said he believes it was a CCI, and it has a “C” stamped on it. Blatmer said looked like the round had been run over, but it looked like a new bullet otherwise.
12 p.m. – A U.S. Secret Service investigative analyst testified he was able to identify a silver minivan in surveillance video connected to both the Jessica Heeringa and Rebekah Bletsch cases.
Ryan Heethuis testified he reached out to Michigan Secretary of State for all current registered Dodge Caravans from 2013 on. The state records generated a list of approximately 32,000 vans, he said. Using raw video from a blueberry farm near the scene of crime and with the help of a local dealer, Heethuis said he determined that the suspect’s vehicle was likely a silver Dodge Caravan.
Heethuis said he took the data and “cleansed it,” giving Fiat Chrysler Automotive a list of just vin numbers to see if they could narrow it further, based on the vehicle’s antenna, color and the wheels when it came off the assembly line. FCA whittled it down to 354 vans statewide, Heethuis said.
“Investigators thought this would be someone familiar to the area or at least close to the area,” he said. From there, he narrowed it down to 31 silver vans in nearby zip codes.
Heethuis said he analyzed surveillance video that was pulled for the Jessica Heeringa investigation. Only two vehicles passed during about a minute time frame, including a minivan. In a second video, Heethuis said only one minivan passed in about the five-minute window following Heeringa’s disappearance.
Heethuis also analyzed video from a gas station taken in connection to the Bletsch murder. At 6:23 p.m. a silver minivan passes by. Heethuis said approximately 135 vehicles were seen traveling southbound, but only one silver van appeared in the footage.
Heethuis said he also analyzed Kevin Bluhm’s cellphone records from Sprint and was able to go back to December of 2014 – the carrier’s records couldn’t go back any further. Of the 9,000 call records he analyzed for Bluhm and Kevin Bletsch, there was no messages exchanged between them, according to Heethuis.
In the cross-examination, Heethuis said he analyzed records from one phone each for Bluhm and Kevin Bletsch, but that could not include any other types of communication.
Heethuis told the defense attorney he did not know how many silver vans other automakers rolled out and he could not tell the make or model of any of the vans pictured in the surveillance video.
Jurors also heard from Frank Coles, the blueberry farmer whose surveillance camera off Weber Road captured a silver minivan traveling down the road on April 16, 2016 around 9 a.m. – around the time of the abduction attempt on the teen.
Mike Crane, who sells used Chrysler Dodge minivans in Muskegon, also testified that he analyzed a still image taken from the surveillance video and determined the vehicle was a 2005-2007 Dodge Grand Caravan most likely out of Canada, based on the satellite aerial on the roof. Crane said he’s sold close to 4,000 Caravans.