Brother Says Dee Warner Billboard Targeting Husband Was Meant Sarcastically

When Gregg Hardy paid to put up a billboard in Lenawee County reading "Help Dale Find Dee," he was not extending an olive branch to his missing sister's husband. He was making a point.

Hardy, the brother of Dee Ann Warner, says the sign was pure sarcasm. Placed at a prominent intersection near the Warner family home in Franklin Township, it was positioned where, Hardy noted, workers from the trucking company he and Dee operated would be certain to see it. The goal, Hardy and private investigator Billy Little both say, was to make Dale Warner feel the heat of their parallel investigation, not to enlist his help finding Dee. Dale Warner denies he ever harmed his wife.

Dee Ann Warner, 52, was last seen on the evening of April 24, 2021, at the family home on Munger Road in Franklin Township. Her phone went dark that night. There was no activity on her bank accounts, no appearance on any surveillance camera, and no social media posts. She left behind a $40,000 wedding ring, a passport, her makeup bag, and a curling iron. Her family also noted she had a nine-year-old daughter she was devoted to. For Gregg Hardy and others close to Dee, her voluntary disappearance was not a credible explanation.

Hardy organized a public vigil at his farm in the fall of 2021, at which he directly accused Dale Warner of fabricating a story that Dee had simply left on her own. Hardy later said he grew impatient as investigators emphasized how crucial physical evidence, including a body, would be to any prosecution. The former Lenawee County prosecutor, aware of those risks, counseled patience.

The billboard came after Hardy enlisted Little, an attorney and investigator who had appeared on "48 Hours" in connection with another missing persons case. Hardy's sister Shelley had seen Little on that program in February 2022, roughly ten months after Dee's disappearance, and urged her brother to contact him. Little came to Lenawee County and advised Hardy on how to use press attention strategically, conducted interviews with potential witnesses, walked properties where the family believed evidence might be buried, and flew drones over the surrounding land. The billboard was part of that coordinated pressure campaign.

Dale Warner was charged with murder and tampering with evidence in November 2023. His son, Jaron Dale Warner, 28, of Tecumseh, was later arrested and arraigned on charges of tampering with evidence and accessory after the fact, and given a $125,000 bond. In August 2024, Michigan State Police executing a search warrant on property belonging to Dale Warner discovered human remains inside an anhydrous ammonia tank. Those remains were subsequently identified as Dee Ann Warner's.

Dale Warner, through his legal team, maintained he had not harmed his wife and had denied involvement in her disappearance in repeated conversations with police. His murder trial began in February 2025.