Case Details
- Photo URLs:
-
- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 08/20/2010
- Missing From:
- Missing From Westland, Michigan
- Classification:
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 05/19/1994 (30)
- Age:
- Age 16 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 5’0, 90 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description Pajamas and no shoes or socks.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Carlee has a scar on her left side and a burn scar on the inside of her right ankle. Her ears are pierced.
- Details of Disappearance:
- Carlee disappeared on August 20, 2010, from her apartment in Westland, Michigan. She left to answer a phone call, barefoot and in her pajamas, and never returned. She left behind all her belongings.
Four months later, Nicholas Cottrell and Justin Yoshikawa confessed to killing her. They were initially charged with first-degree murder (life in prison). Cottrell’s mother was also charged for helping them cover it up.
Cottrell made a deal: he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge (second-degree murder) and agreed to testify against Yoshikawa in exchange for a 25-to-50-year sentence.
According to Cottrell, Yoshikawa, who had previously dated Carlee, killed her because of their bad breakup. Yoshikawa hid in Cottrell’s car. Cottrell lured Carlee out, and Yoshikawa strangled her with a dog leash. They then dumped her body in a trash bin near a church.
Later, Cottrell tried to back out of his deal, but the judge allowed his earlier testimony to be used in Yoshikawa’s trial. Yoshikawa then pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 35-to-70-year sentence.
Carlee’s body has never been found. While some records might list her as a runaway, the circumstances strongly suggest she was murdered.
- Agency:
- Westland Police Department 734-722-9600
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 08/20/2010