A not guilty plea has been entered on behalf of a man charged with kidnapping and killing a gas station clerk who disappeared from her job in western Michigan in 2013.
Jeffrey Willis appeared at a brief hearing in a Muskegon County court, hours after charges were announced Tuesday. He was accompanied by a lawyer and didn't speak to the judge.
Willis is charged in the disappearance of 25-year-old Jessica Heeringa, whose body hasn't been found. He's also facing charges in two more local cases: the fatal shooting of a 36-year-old female jogger in 2014 and the attempted abduction of a 16-year-old girl in April.
The girl escaped from Willis' van, an incident that brought him to the attention of police and energized the Heeringa investigation.