TODD MCINTURF/DETROIT NEWS/AP
Nearly a decade ago, a 14-year-old girl from a small town in Michigan was brutally murdered while walking her dog. Unbeknownst to her killer, the girl would help solve her own murder thanks to a fitness tracking app on her phone.
April Millsap was last seen alive on July 24, 2014. She was out walking her dog in Armada, Michigan when she sent a chilling text to her boyfriend. “I think I almost got kidnapped omfg,” April wrote, according to reports from the Detroit Free Press.
Moments later, April was hit over the head with a motorcycle helmet, stomped on, and beaten to death in an attempted sexual assault, the Free Press reported, citing authorities. April’s body was found hours later after her dog alerted two joggers to her body in a drainage ditch, CBS reported. The outlet also reported that a police officer would later testify that her blouse was torn and wrapped around her waist.
A medical examiner ruled that April died of blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation caused by neck compression, according to the outlets. No DNA was found at the scene, but a boot print on her body would later be used to help identify April’s killer — along with crucial data from her phone.
WDIV reported that prosecutors said a witness saw a man with a teen on his motorcycle on July 24. The witness provided a description that led to a sketch of the suspect. A month after April’s death, police named James VanCallis, a 32-year-old from Goodells, Michigan, as a person of interest after he was arrested on an unrelated marijuana charge, the Free Press reported.
VanCallis had been riding his motorcycle in Armada the day April was killed. He maintained that he had nothing to do with April’s death. Using tracking data from a fitness app on April’s phone, authorities alleged that after killing the teen, VanCallis kept her phone. Data from the app indicated that her phone was traveling at high speed after her death before it was eventually dumped.
The phone was found a day after April’s body was discovered in a different location, the Free Press reported. The Macomb Daily also reported that the boot print found on April’s body matched the print of VanCallis’ shoe. In 2016, VanCallis was convicted on charges of first-degree murder, felony murder, kidnapping, and assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, according to prison records.
He was sentenced to life in prison. CBS reported that VanCallis attempted to appeal his conviction, arguing that there was no DNA linking him to the crime and that the prosecution’s witnesses were not credible. A court declined to reverse his conviction. The Free Press reported that April’s mother, Jennifer Millsap, addressed VanCallis during his sentencing hearing.
“You, James, are a damn thief. You stole my beautiful daughter’s life and you stole the rest of mine,” she reportedly said. “My life has totally changed since April was killed. “My life will never be the same,” she continued. “I will always miss April and will continue to hold her in my heart. I never thought this could happen to my daughter or me.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
