Trial To Start Soon For Suspect In Jessica Heeringa Gas Station Disappearance

MUSKEGON (WWJ/AP) - Jury selection is starting in the trial of a western Michigan man who is charged with killing a jogger, one of two homicides pinned on him in the Muskegon area.

Jeffrey Willis is accused of shooting Rebekah Bletsch in 2014 in Muskegon County's Dalton Township. Investigators say bullets in the body matched a gun found in his vehicle.

Jeffrey Willis (photo: Muskegon County Jail)

Because of widespread publicity, hundreds of people could be screened as potential jurors, starting Tuesday.

Willis was arrested in 2016 after a teenager said he tried to kidnap her. That arrest led to charges in Bletsch's death as well as the death of gas station clerk Jessica Heeringa, who disappeared in 2013. Her body hasn't been found.

Willis has pleaded not guilty.

Heeringa's disappearance received nationwide attention. She hasn't been seen since just before she was closing up an Exxon Station where she worked in Norton Shores on April 26, 2013. Her body has not been found, but investigators believe she was killed within 24 to 48 hours of her abduction. Willis was formally tied to the case in May 2016.

Investigators have said they think Heeringa was taken against her will by someone she likely knew. There was no indication of a robbery, as her purse, vehicle and other items were left behind at the scene. DNA testing showed a small amount of blood found outside the gas station belonged to Heeringa.

Investigators have said Willis' van resembles a vehicle seen by witnesses parked behind the gas station on the night Heeringa went missing. Hilson said Willis' van was even searched in the days following Heeringa's disappearance, but "there was nothing at that point in time to suggest at all that he was involved in any criminal activity."

When Willis' van was searched again following his arrest in Bletsch's death, investigators found a pistol, ammunition, syringes with liquid, a ball gag, chains, a mask and a bar with wrist restraints inside the vehicle. Child pornography and videos of bound women were also found in his home.