Abducted girl's death ruled a homicide

EVART, Mich. (WOOD) - A Michigan medical examiner ruled the death of a 15-year-old girl who was abducted was a homicide, and that the man suspected of kidnapping her killed himself.

Raymond R. Bush, of Newport, died of a single self-inflicted gunshot wound and Taylor E. Manley was shot multiple times, the Wayne County medical examiner's office said Thursday.

Bush's ex-girlfriend told investigators he called her Wednesday morning and said he fatally shot Taylor and planned to kill himself, State Police Detective Sgt. George D. Pratt said. Their bodies were found later Wednesday.

Taylor was scheduled to testify against Bush, 38, on Wednesday on charges alleging he sexually assaulted her. State police issued an Amber Alert on Wednesday saying Taylor had been abducted and listing Bush as a suspect.

Hearing from Bush's brother

Taylor already was dead when Bush stopped by the ex-girlfriend's house in Monroe on Wednesday, reiterated the suspect's brother, Mark Klaes, to 24 Hour News 8.

Bush then drove to a nearby cemetery where he apparently killed himself, he said.

Klaes was looking for Bush and Taylor in Monroe on Wednesday after learning she was the subject of an Amber Alert and his brother was suspected of kidnapping her, he said.

Klaes, of Monroe, was with his mother and sister when they spotted Bush's van and two police cars parked at the cemetery.

"I told (police), I said, 'That's my brother in there,' " Klaes said. "They didn't know if he was in there alive or what, so he must have (killed himself) before they got there, because they would have heard the gunshot."

The van was parked next to the gravesites of Bush's grandparents, who raised the brothers, Klaes said.

Sex assault charges

Police started searching for Taylor and Bush on Wednesday morning, when Bush allegedly took the girl from her father's home south of Evart, in Osceola County. He faced a charge of third-degree sexual assault against Manley in Clare County and was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Third-degree criminal sexual conduct is a felony involving sexual penetration that may be charged when it involves a child at least 13 years of age and under 16. It's punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Clare County Prosecutor Michelle Ambrozaitis met with Taylor on Tuesday to prepare for the next day's hearing on the sex assault case, she said. The teen planned to testify against Bush and "did not want to have contact with him," Ambrozaitis added.

Bush was arrested in September on the charge. Taylor was living with her mother in Clare County when the alleged sex assault occurred. Afterward, she moved in with her father in Osceola County.

A judge ordered Bush's bond to be forfeited, as well as a bench warrant for his arrest. That bond ordered Bush to have no contact with Taylor.

But Bush and Taylor were in a relationship, Klaes said, which explains why Taylor's name was tattooed on his shoulder blade. Bush introduced the girl to his brother this summer, saying she was his girlfriend's daughter.

Bush visited Taylor on weekends until apparently, one of the girl's relatives reported him, leading to the sexual assault charge, said Klaes, who bailed his brother out of the Clare County jail after the charge was filed.

"He was definitely afraid of going to jail," Klaes said. "I mean, he was freaking out when he was in there."

Bush's history

Klaes doesn't believe Bush kidnapped the girl, he said.

"The media is making him out to be a kidnapper and this and that, but my guess is, she went with him willingly," he said. "He had no mental problems -- no criminal history. He was fine. I talked to him on Monday. He said he was going to court, which, obviously, he didn't do."

Bush's ex-girlfriend, who is the mother of his 11-year-old son, told Klaes what happened in the minutes leading up to the cemetery discovery.

She told Klaes that Bush stopped at her Monroe home and told her about plans for a mutual suicide.

"They talked about (how) the only way they could be together was to commit suicide," Klaes said.

The ex-girlfriend saw Taylor's body in the back of the van, she told Klaes.

"He didn't take it there to show her," Klaes said. "He took it there, had it in the back of the van, and he went there to drop some of his stuff off -- cell phone and some of the stuff for his son."

The girlfriend told Klaes she called police after Bush left.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.