Several weeks ago, rapper Armani Kelly, 31, of Oscoda, Michigan, was scheduled to perform with Montoya Givens, 31 of Detroit, and Dante Wicker, 31 of Melvindale. They were all scheduled to perform at Lounge 31 on Detroit’s east side.
The show was canceled and no one has seen or heard from the three since then. The case has become a multi-agency investigation involving police departments in Detroit, Oscoda, Melvindale and Warren.
Armani Kelly
Armani Kelly, Dante Wicker and Montoya Givens are three aspiring Michigan rappers who have been missing since January 21, when their show at Lounge 31 in Detroit was canceled. Authorities are now investigating their disappearances.
The families of Kelly, Montoya Givens and Dante Wicker said they became concerned when their loved ones did not answer phone calls or text messages from the night of Jan. 21, according to the Detroit Free Press.
They also noticed that all three men’s phones had stopped sending data by the time they went missing. Chief James White with the Detroit Police Department told PEOPLE Monday that this is unusual.
McGinnis said law enforcement agencies in Warren, Oscoda and Melvindale are now assisting in the investigation. They say it is especially odd that the three men are missing together.
A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with possessing Kelly’s car, a 2017 Chevrolet Equinox. It was found in an apartment complex in Warren, north of Detroit, according to WXYZ Channel 7 in Detroit.
The mother of Givens, Cat Fogle, told the Detroit News she learned about her son’s death Thursday afternoon. She has been a longtime supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. She says she is devastated by the news and is searching for her son’s killer.
Montoya Givens
Three aspiring rappers from Michigan were reported missing last week after they missed a Detroit show. Armani Kelly, Dante Wicker and Montoya Givens haven’t been seen since the night their gig was canceled on January 21.
While police haven’t found any leads or clues, their disappearance has left the rap community in Michigan mourning. Fans and fellow artists are organizing searches in hopes of bringing them back home.
The three men were scheduled to perform at Lounge 31 on January 21, but the show was canceled over an equipment issue, according to Kelly’s fiancee Taylor Perrin. She said she spoke to him the evening of his disappearance and he told her that he was going to link up with friends and find open mic events.
But all his calls, texts and Facebook messages went unanswered. He was supposed to meet with his friends that night and drive three hours from Oscoda, Michigan to Detroit.
According to NBC News, Kelly’s mother, Lorrie Kemp, and his fiancee, Taylor Perrin, filed reports of his disappearance with the Detroit Police Department. They said their son had a history of armed robbery in prison, and his family is concerned that he could have been killed by his former inmates. The search is now a joint investigation by the Oscoda, Warren, Melvindale and Detroit police departments.
Dante Wicker
The search for three missing Michigan rappers took a new twist Thursday after police discovered their bodies. Armani Kelly, Dante Wicker and Montoya Givens were found dead in an abandoned apartment building in Highland Park on the Detroit border.
The men were reported missing Jan. 21 after they were scheduled to perform at Lounge 31 in Detroit, a show that was canceled for technical reasons. They had not been seen since then, and their phones stopped sending data at about the same time that night.
Their families had been hoping that they would return home, as the trio lived in different states. They all met in prison, and they were turning their lives around after being released.
But all that changed the day Kelly went missing, his fiancee Taylor Perrin told PEOPLE. She began a search, including tracking Kelly’s car using OnStar.
She discovered that Kelly’s vehicle had been moved three times after the cancellation of his gig. A 15-year-old boy was picked up last week and accused of having the vehicle, according to Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer.
He said there were no signs of violence inside the car, and that the teenager told officers he was asked to pick up the car on Schoolcraft Street in Detroit’s west side. But Dwyer declined to comment on how the discovery could factor into the investigation.
