New tips sought in '08 missing man case

HARTFORD, Mich. (WOOD) - Michigan State Police are looking for help finding a Hartford man who went missing in August 2008.

Derrick Ray Henagan was reported missing on Aug. 7, 2008. He was last seen leaving a friend's residence off H-33 (County Road 135) in Lakefield Township, near McMillan in the upper peninsula. Police said he was on his way to meet his girlfriend in nearby woods.

"I seen those woods," said Derrick's mom Betty Henagan. "He didn't get lost in those woods. You can see through them and there's a road on the other side."

Over the past three years, Betty has posted missing signs in Derrick's hometown of Hartford, and also in the U.P. near where he disappeared.

She said at this point she has little to no hope that her son is still alive.

"I just know he would have called his little boy or he would have gotten a hold of me somehow," Betty said. Betty told us Derrick has three children, all under the age of 14.

Witnesses told police that Henagan made many phone calls to Hartford three days before he disappeared. His mom said Derrick called family members and friends to try to get a ride back home to Hartford in Van Buren County. Police don't know if he ever made it back to West Michigan.

"I just don't know how families go through this for years because it's been the hardest three years of my life," Betty said. She described how tough it's been. She told us every time she hears a body has been found she calls or heads out to the scene, hoping it might be her son.

"I want [the person] who done this to my son arrested and I want to bring [Derrick's] remains home and bury him properly. He wasn't a bag of trash and someone threw him out like one," Betty said.

Michigan State Police officials investigating the case say Henagan is still technically a missing person, but they are treating this case just as seriously as if it was a homicide investigation. Police are looking into several different leads. One person they're investigating is Austin Bradley Austin, the Hartford man accused of killing his girlfriend and burying her in his yard. Henagan and Austin were friends.

Police are also talking with, and looking at the people who last saw Derrick alive, including his girlfriend at the time and several friends.

The detective in charge of the case tells 24 Hour News 8 the likelihood of Derrick Henagan being alive at this point is "none." It is something his mom said she sadly figured out years ago.

"We gotta have closure. We gotta have it and we need peace and he needs to be brought home and be put to rest," Betty said.

Henagan is a white male, about 6 feet tall, weighs 175 pounds, has brown hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a tank top with a Monster energy drink logo, shorts and tennis shoes.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Michigan State Police in Newberry at 906.293.5152 or their local authorities.

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Online:

Henagan's profile on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System website