Man’s Remains Found in Grant County
Ronald Henry, 34, a man from Milwaukee who had been reported as missing since Dec. 7, 2022, was found dead in early March. He was described by his mother, Tonya Makinye, as a young man who loved helping people and was “fun to be around.”
Makinye told Dateline that on Dec. 1. 2022, Henry took a Greyhound bus to Platteville from Milwaukee. She stated that he “did farm work in Platteville, and he’s gone there before to do that.” Henry was friends with the people he worked for and was said to have known them for years. He had also lived in their house when he had done work for them in the past.
Henry was supposed to leave the farm on Dec. 17, however, on Dec. 7. 2022, Makinye received a distressed call from Alicia Bennett, Henry’s girlfriend, stating she had not heard from him for several days.
Henry was reported missing to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office in Lancaster shortly after Bennett’s call to Makinye. Grant County police searched the area where Henry had gone missing with K-9 units, a drone and a helicopter, but found nothing.
The sheriff’s office received a call from a property owner in Ellenboro Township stating that a body had been discovered in a ravine near their property by a 14-year-old boy searching for deer antlers on March 5. The body turned out to be the remains of Ronald Henry.
A statement released by the Grant County Sheriff’s office, said that “Ronald’s location was approximately a mile south of the residence where he was last seen and was just outside the 2800-acre search conducted in January.”
Grant County Sheriff Nate Dreckman stated in a news release that “Grant County Detectives were sent to the location, processed the scene and determined the body was that of Ronald Henry.”
Autopsy results were released to the public on March 10th and revealed that no signs of trauma were found on Henry’s body. The cause of Henry’s death remains inconclusive at this time; however, the sheriff’s office is still awaiting results from the toxicology report and the final pathologist report.
The investigation into what happened to Henry remains open as police await results from a search being conducted on a phone that was by Henry’s body.
Henry’s aunt, Layaloni Jacobs posted on the Facebook group “JUSTICE FOR Ronald Henry!!” that his family wants answers. “It’s hurting the entire family,” she said, “We want justice.”