Police showed up with shovels at a Detroit restaurant to look for a woman who they say disappeared more than 19 years ago after her husband killed her, according to reports.
Police from Auburn Hills and Detroit, Michigan State troopers and the FBI spent hours Friday at the Galaxy Coney Island searching for Aferdita "Rita" Gjergjaj without finding her remains, Fox 2 Detroit reported. She was reported missing in February 2001.
“I can tell you right now she has not been found here at this location. I want to ask the public’s health to bring closure to the family. If they know where the remains are, reach out," Auburn Hills Deputy Police Chief Ryan Gagnon said, according to the station.
A Detroit police vehicle wsa parked outside the Galaxy Coney Island Friday as police searched for Aferdita Gjerjaj's remains. (Fox 2 Detroit)
After the disappearance, her husband Binak "Kola" Gjerjaj fled to Kosovo which refused to extradite him for her murder, the station reported. In 2019 Kosovo finally agreed to the extradition request but he hanged himself in a jail cell before he could be returned to Auburn Hills.
Gagnon said there was probable cause to believe Rita, who was from Auburn Hills, had been buried at the restaurant at some point in time, Fox 2 reported.
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Police released this photo of Aferdita Gjergjaj, 30, after her disappearance in 2001. (Auburn Hills Police Department)
The 30-year-old woman disappeared after telling her sister she was going to meet her ex at an Auburn Hills movie theater.
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The theater's surveillance cameras showed her getting into another vehicle that sat there for 30 minutes before driving off with her inside, according to the station. She was never heard from again.
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Binak had allegedly threatened to kill his wife if she tried to win custdoy of their children from him, The Charley Project, a nonprofit that publicizes missing-person cases, reported. He took physical custody of the kids after their divorce in 1998.
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