James Mills was a 51-year-old Black man from Warren, Michigan, who spent much of his time in a Detroit east-side neighborhood and had no family living locally. On the morning of May 12, 2017, an anonymous caller led police to a vacant house in the 14000 block of Park Grove near E McNichols Road and Gratiot Avenue. In the basement officers found Mills’ body with at least eight gunshot wounds, including to his head, back, and arm.

Investigators believed Mills had not been killed at that house and estimated the body had been there one to two days. The tipster said Mills had been shot, placed in a dumpster, then moved into the abandoned building. Police said they did not know where he was last seen alive, could not locate the crime scene, and were unable to rule out a drug connection. No arrests had been announced as of May 2017.

If anyone has information about where James Mills was last seen, who might have been involved, or about activity around Park Grove in early May 2017, please come forward.