Inset left: Jeffrey Vernon Michaels (Fresno Police Department). Inset right: Alison Riley (GoFundMe). Background: The suburban neighborhood where Riley's body was found in Fresno, Calif. (Google Maps).
A California man is behind bars for killing his ex-girlfriend who had previously been reported missing, Golden State authorities say.
Jeffrey Vernon Michaels, 39, stands accused of one count of murder over the death of 29-year-old Alison Riley, whose legal name is Tatyana McIntyre, according to the Fresno Police Department.
The investigation began on Tuesday night, Aug. 4, when Riley was first reported missing by her family members after failing to pick her daughter up from school, police said.
Officers were first called to East Richert Avenue in Fresno and searched various locations to no avail, according to a police report obtained by Visalia-based Fox affiliate KMPH. The investigation was soon turned over to the department's domestic violence division.
Police determined the woman's last known location was a residence on East Grove Avenue – a distance of roughly 10 miles from Richert.
On Wednesday, a tactical team with the street violence division served a warrant at the Grove house and found Riley dead inside, police said. The victim had apparently suffered multiple lacerations. There was no one else at the residence during the search.
The Grove house is reportedly owned by Michaels, according to records obtained by Fresno-based ABC affiliate KFSN. Family members of the victim also told KMPH the house belonged to Michaels – who is the father of two of Riley's seven children.
Inside, homicide detectives found evidence that a disturbance had occurred, according to law enforcement.
Details about the alleged murder are currently scarce; Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto said a motive is not known.
Police say Michaels initially left Fresno city limits but later contacted law enforcement and turned himself in on Thursday.
At the time Riley disappeared, she was driving a Zipcar rental, her family told KMPH. The TV station obtained surveillance footage purportedly showing the vehicle driving toward an intersection near an orchard just before 4 p.m. on the day she vanished.
The Zipcar was later found abandoned in that same orchard – with the woman's belongings still inside, police said.
Family members also said Riley was last heard from sometime between 12:10 p.m. and 1 p.m. on the day in question – when she arrived at her ex-boyfriend's house. The woman's phone pinged near that location but later lost service, family told KMPH.
The victim's mother, in comments to KMPH, said Riley had previously told her about domestic violence involving Michaels, including incidents in which the victim claimed the defendant had choked her and prevented her from leaving the house. The woman's mother added that such allegations had been reported to police.
Michaels is being detained in the Fresno County Jail on $1 million bail.
Riley's family started a GoFundMe for funeral expenses.
"We are still seeking answers and justice for the man who took her life," the online fundraiser reads. "Anything is greatly appreciated in this time in need. Thank you. God bless."
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