In the early morning hours of a Thursday in April 2016, 35-year-old Willie Gardner was found shot multiple times and deceased inside a red Dodge Charger parked on Watson Street in Detroit’s Brush Park neighborhood, near Interstate 75 and Mack Avenue. The shooting appeared to be a targeted attack while he was inside the vehicle, and police treated the scene as an active homicide investigation. Family members said the shooting may have occurred the previous night and that no one called police until the following morning.

Gardner was a father of three, engaged to be married, and employed at a local marijuana dispensary. His sister described him as a devoted father, brother, and friend, and the family has been left bewildered and grieving. The Detroit Police Department sought public help for leads, but no arrests were announced and the case grew cold with no identified suspects.

If anyone has information about Gardner’s death or remembers activity in the Watson Street area that night, please come forward to investigators.