Hartford, MI: Former boyfriend of missing Hartford woman Penny Miller to be charged with murder after skeletal remains unearthed

HARTFORD — A Hartford man was to be charged today with killing a former girlfriend who has been missing since 2007 and whose skeletal remains are believed to have been unearthed Tuesday on his property.

Austin Bradley Austin, 38, was arrested at his fiance's home, a few blocks from where human remains believed to be those of Penny Miller were found behind his 65th Street residence.

Miller, of Hartford, was 43 when her son reported her as missing in early 2007, according to Michigan State Police Detective First Lt. Chuck Christensen.

Austin was expected to be charged with an open count of murder this morning in Van Buren District Court, Christensen said. An acquaintance, who police say provided information that led to the human remains, was expected to be charged with being an accessory, he said.

"We can't say that it's unequivocally Penny Miller at this point ... but right now (Austin) is going to be arrested on a murder charge," Christensen said Tuesday night of the remains unearthed behind a garage near Austin's trailer just west of the Hartford city limits.

Miller had been in a romantic relationship with Austin. "It was broken off and then, we believe, it started back up," Christensen said of the relationship.

"We don't know what the motive was with her and why she was killed," he said of Miller.

Police received a tip in December and trooper Kyle Gorham, of the MSP Paw Paw Post, developed information that led him to interview the alleged accomplice Monday.

"He was struggling with this for years, having this information and assisting on this," Christensen said. "It didn't take much" for him to become emotional while being interviewed and to reveal information that led to the burial site, the lieutenant said.

Excavation of the site, not far from a trailer and behind a garage on Austin's property, began at 8 a.m. Tuesday and the remains were found at about 6:30 p.m., Christensen said. At about 7:30 p.m., police went to a house at Elmwood and Franklin streets in Hartford, where Austin was arrested without incident.

The lieutenant said dental records, or DNA records if necessary, would be used to positively identify the body. He had no timetable for when that might occur.

Christensen said investigators believe they know the manner in which Miller was killed, but he declined to elaborate.

Contact Ed Finnerty at efinnerty@kalamazoogazette.com or 269-388-8551.