Muskegon attorney says investigators interviewed client about Bobbie Maples case
MUSKEGON COUNTY -
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WZZM) -- A Muskegon attorney says his client has a connection to the Bobbie Maples criminal investigation.
Maples went missing in December 2014. Last month, her body was found buried on private property on Nestrom Road south of Whitehall. The body was discovered buried near a barn and horse corral.
The man who first reported Maples missing is Robert Charles Smith III.
"Any request that law enforcement has made through my office he has answered," said attorney Marc Curtis, who is representing Smith on a felony charge.
Curtis wouldn't describe how Smith knew Maples, but the relationship was close enough for Smith to report the mother missing to not one but two police agencies in December 2014.
"He reported it to Roosevelt Park, and then out of frustration, out of not hearing from Roosevelt Park, it is my understanding he contacted the Michigan State Police to report her missing, also," said Curtis.
Court records show Smith is facing a first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge. That case is heading to trial. Attorney Curtis says the charge is unrelated to the Maples investigation and one his client will take to trial to prove his innocence. Even as prosecutors are bringing charges against Smith, he's working with detectives to solve the Maples investigation.
Investigators say they continue to work to determine how Bobbie Maples died. A final autopsy report by the medical examiner is pending. When final, the report should list for detectives the cause and manner of Maples' death.
Investigators previously said at least one individual with knowledge of the case is incarcerated. That person is not Smith, but another individual. So far prosecutors say no arrest warrants have been signed in connection to the Maples investigation.
According to her family, Bobbie Maples was last seen on December 15, 2014, near Whitehall. That's just a few miles from the horse corral where her body was located in Fruitland Township.