Driver facing Open Murder charges in death of Melody Rohrer

VAN BUREN COUNTY, Mich. -- The driver who allegedly hit 64-year-old Melody Rohrer, then moved her body to another county is now facing an Open Murder charge, according to the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office.

Rohrer was reported missing on September 20 after going for a walk in the 84000 block of CR 215.

Several hours later, deputies said Rohrer was located deceased. Deputies said she had been removed from the scene by the suspect driver and taken to another location in another county.

The following day, Colby Delea Martin, 29, was charged with concealing the death of an individual, failure to stop at the scene of a personal injury accident and homicide/manslaughter with a motor vehicle.

Detectives continued the investigation into Rohrer’s death.

Additional evidence and information led to the prosecutor’s office amending the charge to Open Murder.

Martin was arraigned on Wednesday on the amended charge and is being held in the Van Buren County Jail without bond.

“The Criminal Investigative Division has been working very hard on this case from day one as well as the prosecutor’s office. This is a very sensitive case with a lot of technical information, reconstruction information, lab work, etc. which requires a lot of time to put together. I can tell you from the time this incident happened the case has been worked on hard with a lot of man hours invested. The case is still being worked and will be for some time to come.” Sheriff Daniel E. Abbott said.