UPDATE — 2/20/26 at 4:59 p.m. ET: Authorities have identified and arrested a suspect following the discovery of three dead men in the basement of a Detroit, Michigan, home on Wednesday, February 18, according to police, WXYZ reported.
A 27-year-old man, who has not yet been publicly identified by law enforcement, was detained in connection with the men’s deaths, police said during a Friday, February 20, news conference, according to the TV station.
Authorities have identified the men as William Barrett, 72, Norman Hamlin, 66, and Mark Barnett, 65, the TV station reported.
The men died as a result of blunt force trauma, according to police.
“The minute you open the door, you could see blood, you could see just a horrific scene,” Detroit Police First Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald said, according to WXYZ.
Original story:
The bodies of three middle-aged men who were apparently “brutally” beaten were found in the basement of a Michigan home after Detroit police were called to about a missing person, according to authorities and news reports.
The discovery was made at a residence in southwest Detroit on Wednesday, February 18, Detroit Police Commander Rebecca McKay said in a video provided to news outlets, the Detroit Free Press reported.
After officers initially encountered the person who called police to make a missing person’s report, they found someone else who said, “they had been assaulted inside a home nearby,” McKay said, according to the newspaper.
When they went to the home where the person said they were allegedly beaten, officers found three men, who appeared to be in their 50s, dead in the basement, according to McKay, the newspaper reported.
The Detroit Police Department did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Us Weekly the afternoon of Thursday, February 19.
It is unclear whether the person who called 911 about a missing person is linked to the deadly discovery at the Detroit home. The three men who were found dead have not yet been identified by authorities, CBS News reported.
As of the morning of February 19, officers were continuing to investigate the property, according to the outlet.
“This case is very preliminary at this point,” McKay said in the video shared to news outlets when she had been at the scene on February 18.
In the footage published by WXYZ, McKay also said that it was unknown how long the bodies had been in the basement.
Local resident Thomas Barnes, who spoke with the TV station, said that he knows the man who lives where the bodies were allegedly discovered. Barnes shared that he grew up with him and had seen him as recently as last week.
“At first, we didn’t know if it was an overdose or an actual murder because the officers couldn’t talk about it,” Barnes said to WXYZ. “We don’t know the actual identity of the men or whoever it might be, and I’m hoping and praying that it’s not [the homeowner].”
Another local resident, Rayshawn Brown, told WJBK that he and other residents are “Worried because we don’t know who did it.”
“It’s insane,” Brown also told the TV station. “Makes me keep an eye out, watching, you never know what’s going on over here.”
It is unclear whether police have identified any potential suspects or motives in connection with the three bodies.
McKay encouraged members of the public who might have further information to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP or Detroit police, WXYZ reported.
In January, Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield announced that the city saw a “historic drop in violent crime” in 2025, including homicides, shootings that were not deadly and carjackings.
Last year was the “first time in decades” that Detroit’s homicide rate was lower than 200 incidents, according to a January 6 news release shared by the city. There were 165 homicides in 2025.
