Man arrested after body found buried near Dagsboro, police say

Man arrested after body found buried near Dagsboro, police say
Photo by Bill Oxford / Unsplash

The body of a man who has been missing for 10 years was found buried on a property north of Gumboro in recent days, Delaware State Police say.

A 31-year-old Georgetown man, Michael Ellingsen, has been arrested, accused of killing John "Doug" Wisniewski in January 2011.

Here's the police account of what happened:

Wisniewski was reported missing in February 2011. At the time, he was living in a residence on the same property as Ellingsen, in the 30000 block of R Farm Lane north of Gumboro and west of Dagsboro.

In the 10 years afterward, detectives kept investigating, but never found Wisniewski.

Then in January 2021, police say, they got new leads that Ellingsen had shot and killed Wisniewski and buried his body on the property where they lived. Police searched the property for days and finally found the body.

After an autopsy, Wisniewski's death was ruled a homicide. On Monday of this week, state police arrested Ellingsen, who faces charges of felony first degree murder.

He's being held at Sussex Correctional Institution on $1 million cash bond.

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