VALLEY TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Jul. 25, 2026) – The discovery of a 57-year-old woman at a residence west of Allegan on Friday is being investigated as a homicide.
Allegan County Sheriff’s deputies and City of Allegan police officers were dispatched to a home in the 1600 block of Nature View Lane, near the Monroe Road-42nd Street junction, on a welfare check request for Rosa Mercedes Olmstead. She hadn’t reported for work for several days, and family and friends were unable to contact her.
When first responders arrived, there was no response at the door, and upon looking through front windows, they noticed blood on the walls and floor, which led them to force their way in. They found Mrs. Olmstead’s body in a downstairs basement, and evidence at the scene initially led detectives to believe that she had been violently attacked. An adult man was also inside of the residence at the time with non life-threatening injuries, and he was taken to an undisclosed “area hospital” for treatment.
A subsequent investigation led deputies to arrest that unnamed man upon his release from that medical facility, and he is in the Allegan County Jail awaiting arraignment on an initial charge of open murder. Mrs. Olmstead’s body was taken to the Western Michigan University School of Medicine in Kalamazoo, where an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Sheriff’s Detectives believe that there is no further threat to the public in the matter, which remains under investigation.
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