Ashley Elkins disappearance: Judge denies lower bond for ex-boyfriend

De'Andre Booker (Macomb County Jail)
ROSEVILLE, Mich. (FOX 2) - A Roseville judge acknowledged that the bond set for Ashley Elkins' ex-boyfriend isn't typical for the charge he's facing, but declined to lower it given the facts of the case.
De'Andre Booker, 32, was charged with lying to police earlier this month in connection with Elkins' disappearance. He appeared in court Wednesday for a probable cause conference, which was adjourned until next month.
Ex-boyfriend charged in Elkins' disappearance
The backstory:
Booker was arrested and charged Jan. 9 after police searched his Roseville apartment.
According to authorities, Elkins' vehicle was found a few miles away from Booker's apartment. He allegedly lied about his whereabouts.
The prosecutor who appeared in court for Booker's arraignment said Booker's internet searches after Elkins disappeared suggest that he was planning to flee Michigan.
While in Flint, Booker is accused of planning to leave Michigan by looking up routes out of state.
His research also included what to do while on the run, as well as how to beat a polygraph test, and if blood is traceable, the prosecution said.
Additionally, he allegedly looked up how to delete his Google search history.
The prosecution argued that these searches suggest that Booker would flee if released on bond. His bond was set at $250,000 cash/surety.
What's next:
In court Wednesday, Booker's attorney, Robbie Lang, argued that his client's bond is too high for the crime he is charged with. He asserted that Booker's bond was set based on crimes he could be charged with in the future - not what he has been charged with.
He also argued that his client is not a flight risk, an assertion denied by the prosecution, who brought up Booker's internet searches.
Lang requested that Booker be given a personal recognizance bond, which would allow him to be released from jail without any cash up front.
Judge Joseph Boedeker said that bond was high for the charge, but also noted that the court, including the judge who originally set the $250,000 bond, is cognizant of the facts of the case. Because of this, he declined the request to amend the bond.
Booker will be back in court on Feb. 5 for a probable cause conference and Feb. 26 for a preliminary exam.
Who is De'Andre Booker?
Booker grew up in Southeast Michigan, and has lived at an apartment in the area of Gratiot and Frazho in Roseville for the last five years, Lang said.
According to information presented in court, Booker is currently unemployed and has been for about a year. Previously, he worked as a certified nursing assistant in Ann Arbor, Lang said.
Booker previously served in the United States Army but was removed from the military with a less than honorable discharge after going AWOL in 2017. This happened after he was charged the year before with several crimes while serving, including larceny and possessing fake identification documents.
Despite the charges brought against him in the military, both his attorney and the prosecution said they have no record of him having a criminal history.
What happened to Ashley Elkins?
The backstory:
Elkins' family last heard from her on Jan. 2 when she sent a text saying she was headed home from running errands. However, she never made it back to her Warren home.
According to her family, it is unusual for Elkins, a mother of two, to not have contact with her loved ones, especially her sons.
"She loves her family, her kids. She would never just disappear for this many days," her sister Alexis Elkins said.

Ashley Elkins, 30, disappeared on Jan. 2 when she left to run some errands.
Ashley Elkins search
What we know:
After seizing a dumpster from the Roseville apartment complex where Booker lives, investigators headed north to Pine Tree Acres in Lenox Township.
Elkins' family has been suspicious of Booker since she disappeared, and have said they believe he threw her away.
"Her mother has said numerous times, ‘He threw her out with the trash,’" her uncle, Maurice Morton, said. "That's disheartening."
They spent days combing through trash at the landfill, with a focus on about a 6 ½ acre parcel. Police had said they were confident their search of the landfill would turn up clues.
Her family said Monday that the landfill search had concluded without Elkins being found.
What we don't know:
Though Elkins' remains were not found at Pine Tree Acres, it isn't clear if police found any other evidence while searching the landfill.