Breaking news … Bodies of missing Hamtramck women have been found

Ashley Conaway

Abreeya Brown

March 26, 3:30 p.m.

By Charles Sercombe

The case of two missing Hamtramck women has turned into a matter of homicide.

Police discovered the bodies of the two missing women, Ashley Conaway, 22, and Abreeya Brown, 18, on Sunday afternoon in a park on Detroit’s Westside.

At the time of this posting (March 26, 3:30 p.m.), the Wayne County Medical Examiner confirmed the identities of the women and said they had been shot.

The two women were violently kidnapped on Feb. 28 in a gun battle in front of their Andrus St. home.

Two suspects, Brandon Cain, 26, and Christopher Lee, 24, have since been apprehended and face a number of charges stemming from an earlier confrontation involving the women.

It’s believed that Cain, with the help of Lee, kidnapped the women after they refused to take thousands of dollars in hush money. Both suspects fired at Conaway several weeks ago after she broke up with him.

The shot grazed her. It’s unclear why the suspects were not immediately arrested and charged in that matter. According to earlier media reports, the women were warned by Detroit police to stay away from their Hamtramck home because it was believed Cain would come after them.

The women had been staying in protective custody, but returned to their home after having dinner with Brown’s step-father, who also happens to live in the same Andrus St. house.

Hamtramck police have been aided in the search of the women by Detroit investigators and the Michigan State Police.

Hamtramck Acting Police Chief Max Garbarino said additional charges are being worked on for Cain and Lee now that the women have been found.

He also denied that investigators found the bodies based on a tip, which had been stated in a media report.

Garbarino said he could not release any details about the investigation at this time.

According to media reports, the women’s bodies were found in a shallow grave in a park at the 6 Mile and Telegraph area.

Garbarino said that if it’s found out that the women were killed in Detroit, then it would become a Detroit homicide.

At the very least, the suspects face kidnapping charges in Hamtramck.

The women were forced into the trunk of the suspects’ vehicle. One of the women was able to text-message a relative and identify who abducted them. After about an hour, the women were not heard from again.

The suspects’ vehicle was found in a neighborhood in about the same area as the park where the women were discovered, destroyed in a fire.

Investigators found one of the woman’s driver’s license in the car.

Some of the women’s clothing was found near their grave.