Michigan
Human remains found near Hoover Dam in 2009 identified as Michigan man last seen in 1995
(CBS DETROIT) – Human remains found near the Hoover Dam in 2009 have been identified as those of a Michigan man last seen by his family in 1995.
In November 2009, construction crews were on break while working on a cement project on Highway 93 at Milepost 3 near the Hoover Dam when they found what appeared to be a bone, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said.
The workers looked around the area and found additional bones that they believed were human. Construction workers and National Park Service agents searched the area and found additional bones, a sun-bleached pair of blue jeans, a damaged white towel, a sun-bleached red t-shirt, a black athletic shoe and a green sleeping bag. A second search days later found additional remains.
Mohave County Sheriff’s detectives continued the search for years to generate leads but without any results.
In February 2022, a Mohave County Sheriff’s detective obtained a bone sample from the victim and sent it to the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s lab in hopes of identifying the man. A sample was also sent to the University of North Texas, where it was stored for analysis, but an identification was not made.
Two years would go by before Othram, a genetic lab in Texas, received grant funding in April 2024 to pay for forensic genetic genealogy for this case. Using the sample from the University of North Texas, Ortham created a DNA profile and uploaded that profile to a genealogy database for investigation.
In October, investigators received a report that the man was a descendant of ancestors born in the mid-1800s and lived in Michigan. Detectives interviewed the brother of the man, who was identified as William Herman Hietamaki. Siblings interviewed say Hietamaki went by his middle name, Herman, and had been traveling the southwest United States when he was last seen in 1995.
Hietamaki was born on April 4, 1950, and grew up in Trout Creek in the western Upper Peninsula. He attended high school and mechanic’s school in Michigan.
According to officials, Hietamaki left Michigan shortly after graduating from high school and was known to hitchhike and live a nomadic lifestyle. His family last saw him while visiting his sister in New Mexico in 1995. Public records show Hietamaki resided in Las Vegas at one time, and he was known to suffer from epileptic seizures.
The medical examiner’s office was unable to determine Hietamaki’s cause of death but estimated that he died between 2006 and 2008.
MUNISING, Mich. – A 65-year-old Michigan woman allegedly left her home in the middle of the night and never returned.
Now, more than two months after she was last seen, police are continuing to search for her.
Starla Goings was last seen in Munising on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025.
Her daughter, Steffanie Goings, and her husband, Anthony Owens, told NBC’s News that they live in Orlando, but would talk to Starla every couple of days.
The couple said they last spoke to Starla in the afternoon on Aug. 15.
It was a normal conversation, and Starla told them that she was at the State Fair in Escanaba, according to NBC News. They haven’t heard from her since that day.
Two days later, after reaching out to some of Starla’s friends, they discovered that no one had talked to Starla all weekend.
That’s when the Alger County Sheriff’s Office received a call for a welfare check on Starla, which was carried out in the evening on Sunday, Aug. 17.
Alger County Sheriff Todd Brock told NBC News that Starla was last seen by her husband at around midnight on Aug. 15. She allegedly told her husband she was leaving, and then left the home.
Her car was located about 3.5 miles from her home on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025.
On Sept. 11, 2025, Anthony made a post on the Munising Informed Facebook page saying that they knew Starla made it home from the fair, but had no other information to provide.
Then, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, Steffanie made a post on that same community page, referencing a report that authorities were searching Starla’s property, and said they didn’t know what police were doing at the house or if they had found anything.
“When we know something, we will share what we can, but right now we need time and space to process and grieve,” Steffanie said in the post. “Please respect that.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 29, the sheriff’s office confirmed to Local 4 that a search had been conducted at the property, but didn’t provide any additional details.
The investigation is ongoing.
Starla is 65, 5′4″ and 160 pounds, with bright white hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about Starla’s disappearance is asked to contact the Alger County Sheriff’s Office at 906-387-7030.
Copyright 2025 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
Washington ― Michigan’s congressional delegation is aiming to use the upcoming defense policy bill to block the Air Force from retiring the A-10 “Warthog” Thunderbolt II “early” in 2026 to ensure the squadron stays at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County into 2027.
Their goal is to minimize the gap between the time when the A-10s will roll out of Selfridge and a replacement flying mission, F-15EX fighters, is supposed to arrive in 2028 in an effort to maintain the workforce of pilots and maintenance staff for the aircraft.
Led by U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, a Charlotte Republican, Michigan lawmakers wrote Wednesday to the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, asking them to use language that requires the Air Force to maintain a minimum fleet size of 162 A-10 aircraft and prohibits early retirement of the A-10s without the approval of Congress.
“This would basically do a transition between the two (platforms) without a significant or sizable gap between them,” Barrett told The Detroit News. “And that’s the big issue we’re trying to stop. Now that we have the commitment for the new F-15EX aircraft, we don’t want the A-10s to go dormant early and present a gap.”
The lawmakers worry that a gap of a year or two between flying missions would potentially see the staff at Selfridge devoted to pilot training, maintenance and other tasks reassigned or placed elsewhere without aircraft at the base.
“Then all of a sudden, you’re scrambling to get them back and build back up,” Barrett said.
His letter comes as members of the committees are meeting to negotiate the final text of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Both the Senate and House-passed versions of the NDAA included language barring early A-10 retirements, but the lawmakers say the House-passed language is stronger “and will ensure the A-10 Thunderbolt II Aircraft fleet cannot be retired earlier than planned,” they wrote.
All members of Michigan’s delegation, including Democratic Sens. Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township and Elissa Slotkin of Holly, signed onto the letter except Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit. Peters and Slotkin both sit on the Senate Armed Services panel.
Idaho’s congressional delegation also joined the letter, including GOP Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, whose state hosts an A-10 squadron at Gowen Field that is set to be replaced with F-16s.
“Early retirement of the A-10 Thunderbolt II Aircraft fleet could negatively impact Air National Guard Bases like Selfridge in Michigan and Gowen Field in Idaho,” the lawmakers wrote.
“While both bases have planned for the divestment of the A-10s prior to receiving the F-15EXs and the F-16s, an expedited retirement of the A-10s would have negative consequences on their workforce, including pilots losing currency and certification, as well as maintaining proficiency due to the lack of airframes on which to work.”
The Air Force has long planned to divest the aging A-10 Thunderbolt fleet to spend instead on next-generation aircraft.
The Maryland Air National Guard, based in eastern Baltimore County, deactivated its last remaining A-10s last month, sending most to a boneyard in Arizona and two to Selfridge in Harrison Township, Michigan.
A general picked to serve as the next chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, Kenneth S. Wilsbach, this month reiterated the Pentagon’s plans to send a squadron of F-15EX fighter aircraft to Selfridge on time in 2028, assuming the required infrastructure upgrades are complete.
Wilsbach was responding to a question from Slotkin, who asked him about reports that bureaucrats at the Pentagon were looking to delay or “push out” the arrival of the F-15EXs beyond the 2028 date announced by President Donald Trump in April in Michigan.
That, Slotkin worried, would create a gap between when the A-10s’ pilots and personnel depart and the arrival, potentially years later, of the F-15EXs, causing the base to “lose all that good training and manpower that we have.”
Wilsbach said the Air Force would have to train the new crews and maintenance personnel as they transition from the A-10 to the F-15EX, a process that could take six to 18 months.
“So we’ll have to work on that timing,” Wilsbach said.
Michigan’s delegation and state officials lobbied for over a decade for a fighter mission to replace the A-10 Thunderbolt II squadron at Selfridge that is set to be retired starting next year.
Overruling the Air Force, Trump in late April said he’d send 21 brand-new F-15EXs to the base located on Lake St. Clair, northeast of Detroit, starting in 2028 in a gesture that Trump said should “save this place.”
mburke@detroitnews.com
MLive is on a quest to name the best.
With our Top Athletes project, we’re giving readers a chance to select the top performer in each class in each sport for the fall of 2025.
We tested the waters for girls swimming with the senior class, now we’re moving on to the juniors. We’ll follow with underclassmen next.
We’ve collected a list of about 25 candidates and ask for your vote on the Top Junior for girls swimming in Michigan this fall.
Girls Swimming
TOP JUNIORS
*Maria Baldwin, Saline
*Elle Brooks, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood
*Maya Cebula, Portage Central
*Ayla Daigneau, Ypsilanti Lincoln
*Katie Dunfield, Fenton
*Leah Greaves, Farmington Hills Mercy
*Ainsley Gump, Sturgis
*Suryn Lee, Ann Arbor Pioneer
*Anna McAllister, Chelsea
*Kayce McAllister, Dexter
*Mia Mracna, Berkley
*Quinn Norlander, Detroit Country Day
*Vera Roberson, Midland Dow
*Joscelyn Ryan, Madison Heights Bishop Foley
*Juna Sakamoto, Ann Arbor Huron
*Adrienne Schadler, Ann Arbor Skyline
*Mallory Shaver, Grand Blanc
*Campbell Shore, Farmington Hills Mercy
*Camryn Siegers, Holland Christian
*Genevieve Springer, Grand Haven
*Avery Tack, Farmington Hills Mercy
*Cecilia Walusek, Ann Arbor Pioneer
*Anna Williams, Ann Arbor Skyline
MLive player polls are non-scientific ventures, designed to promote fun, fandom and discussion. The winners receive no prize and the results have no bearing on postseason awards.
Use of any form of automated voting is contrary to the intent and is not allowed.
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