Crime & Safety
Dearborn Community Mourns Death of Family Dollar Employees
Customers and friends leave flowers and notes of sympathy outside the Family Dollar store in Dearborn.
More than 20 bouquets of flowers lay on the ground in front of the Family Dollar store in west Dearborn on Friday as a makeshift tribute to employees Joseph Orlando and Brenna Machus.
Orlando, 20, a resident of Dearborn, was killed on Monday night by an unknown suspect who entered the store around 7:30 p.m. Authorities discovered the body of Machus, the store's assistant manager, dumped near the Southfield Freeway a short distance from the crime scene on Thursday morning.
Cards, sympathy notes, Teddy bears and flowers were left near the store at 22631 Michigan Ave.
One woman wrote to Orlando, "You were a really great guy. I will miss not being able to call you just to talk and hear your laugh."
Other messages conveyed well wishes for family members of the slain employees.
"God be with all of you during this time," someone wrote in a note left next to a Teddy bear.
Tina Cable, a resident of Detroit, said she knew Brenna through her son, who dated Brenna off and on for the past six months.
"She was going to move in with him two months ago," Cable said. "She wanted to get her career going. She wanted to be a police investigator."
Cable described the Family Dollar employee as "a very nice, quiet girl who wanted to become something."
A handwritten message on the door of Family Dollar indicates that the store will open for normal business hours on July 22. Calls to the company's corporate office were not returned Friday.
Friends of Brenna Machus will hold a candlelight vigil tonight at 9 p.m. at Bishop Park in Wyandotte. Family members and friends will release balloons over the water and share stories about Machus during the vigil.
Police Seek Information from Southfield Freeway Drivers
The Dearborn Police Department is asking the public's help with its ongoing investigation into the murders of Joseph Orlando and Brenna Machus.Anyone who was driving on the northbound Southfield Freeway (M-39) service drive July 15 from 8 p.m. to July 18 at 7 a.m. who may have seen something suspicious is encouraged to call police.
If anyone had to slow down for a vehicle that may have pulled off of the northbound Southfield Freeway (M-39) service drive south of the eastbound Michigan Avenue ramp, contact the Dearborn Police immediately.
Tips or information can be called in at 313-943-2241. Callers may also provide information anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK UP or the police tip line at 313-943-3012. Crime Stoppers of Michigan is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest of a suspect.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
