Lankey case: White Cloud home searched

WHITE CLOUD, Mich. (WOOD) - Following information that developed over the past few months, the Newaygo County Sheriff's Department searched a home on N. Evergreen in White Cloud as part of the Amanda Lankey case.

Lankey was 13 years old when her body was found in the Manistee National Forest in 2004. The last place she was seen alive was during a sleepover at the home of Cecil Wallis, Sr. just outside of White Cloud.

Sheriff's deputies searched that home Tuesday. A team of investigators spend about six hours at the house at 411 North Evergreen Drive, according to witness Don VanDyke.

"Looked like a piece of dry wall they brought out of the house, and it looked like they were taking the deck apart on the back of the house," said VanDyke.

Investigators wouldn't tell 24 Hour News 8 what they were looking for, specifically.

But a family member said investigators told the family that they were looking for DNA from Lankey and attempting to determine if Lankey was killed at the house.

Wallis committed suicide in November 2011.

At the time, he was facing charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with teenagers during 1998-2002. His body was discovered in a remote area in Newaygo County's Goodwell Township the very day he was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in the CSC case, police said.

The investigation continues. If you have information about this case, you're asked to call the Newaygo County Central Dispatch at 231.689.5288.