The Murder of Ashley Young
On November 29, 2018, Jared Chance killed and dismembered Ashley Young. His parents would then help him hide items he used in the murder.
Background
According to court documents, Ashley Young had plans to meet up with her mother, Kristine Young, so she could co-sign a lease for her daughter. Ashley never showed up and did not answer her phone. For the next few days, Kristine would continue to try to get in touch with Ashley with no response. Kristine knew Ashley had been with a man named Jared Chance, so she contacted a friend of Ashley’s to get his information.
When Kristine spoke to Chance, he told her that on the night of November 29, 2018, he and Ashley had gone to a hookah lounge and Mulligan’s Pub. He also told her that Ashley had lost her phone at the Hookah lounge and went to pick it up on November 30, 2018, on her way to work. This made little sense to Kristine, because Ashley did not work at the time Chance said she was. Chance also told Kristine that someone named Demetreis had seen Ashley and gave her several numbers that were not working. Kristine eventually spoke with Demetreis, who denied knowing or seeing Ashley.
Kristine spoke to Chance again, who could not come up with an explanation for why Demetreis would deny knowing Ashley. Chance would stop answering Kristine’s calls and messages. Kristine then contacted the police.
The Murder
A medical examiner could not determine the specific cause of death but ruled the death a homicide by unspecific means.
Police believe Chance shot Ashley in the head before dismembering her body in his apartment. He would then attempt to clean up the crime scene and hid her body in a tarp in the basement.
According to testimony from Konrad Chance (Jared Chance’s brother) he and his parents James and Barbara Chance picked up his brother from his home in Grand Rapids and brought them back to their home. Konrad stated his brother had a cardboard box with a black bag in it, along with a mop, and some other items. Investigators believe the black bag contained some of Ashley’s remains. James and Barbara would take Jared and the box back to Grand Rapids.
911 Call
On the same day Kristine contacted police, they also received a call from Mario Nelson, who told the operator that he found a bloody tarp in the basement of his home at 922 Franklin St., Grand Rapids, Michigan. When officers responded, Mario told them that there had been a small coming from the basement for a few days. Though the basement was locked, he was able to gain access through another route.
Mario told police that sometime between November 29, 2018, and December 1, 2018, Chance asked him to help gain access to Ashley’s car, which had been parked in the driveway of their home. Police found Ashely’s car a few blocks away from the residence.
Search of the House
Officers entered the basement and saw the tarp and noticed a human body. They secured the scene, obtained a search warrant, and went back inside. In the tarp, officers found a female’s torso which was missing both arms, the neck and head, and both legs from right above the knee. Police searched the house and found the arms and lower legs in a cardboard box on the stairs. DNA testing would confirm the remains belonged to Ashley Young. Police never recovered remaining body parts (neck, head, hands, and feet).
In the basement, police found a saw blade. There was a garbage bag discovered on the back porch that contained two more saw blades, a boot, a bathtub drain cover, an ammonia bottle, latex gloves, pants with Chance’s name in them, and a roll of plastic wrap. Police also found what they believed to be blood in the upstairs bathroom, blood smears on the stairwell leading to where the cardboard box was discovered. The box the body parts were in had a label with the name Jared Chance. Chance had lived in the two-family house on a different floor than Mario.
In Chance’s apartment, police found blood stains, a knife, hand towels with “reddish brown staining”, and a pair of blue jeans with “reddish brownish staining.”
Chance was arrested and charged with mutilation of a dead body and concealing a death (more charged would be added later).
Search of Jared Chance’s Parents House
The investigation lead them to his parent’s house in Holland, Michigan. On December 5, 2018, police searched the house and found a shower curtain in the garage, a Skil saw underneath the couch with blood and tissue on it, a washcloth in the basement which had human blood on it. In the parents Honda CR-V, they found an empty bottle of ammonia and latex gloves. The empty bottle had a label on reading “Miss Tracy’s Party Store”, which was a store near Chance’s residence in Grand Rapids.
James and Barbara Chance are Arrested
James Chance and Barbara Chance were arrested and charged with perjury and accessory after the fact on December 12, 2018. Investigators state they knew their son murdered and dismembered Ashley and lied about it during questioning. Investigators believe that they both helped their son hide items pertaining to the murder. Mr. and Mrs. Chance faced life in prison for perjury and 5 years for accessory after the fact.
Charges & Sentencing
James & Barbara Chance
James Chance, who was a former police sergeant, was found guilty of accessory after the fact and was sentenced to serve 30 days in a county jail and 1 year of probation.
Barbra Chance pleaded no contest to perjury and accessory after the fact. A judge sentenced her to 45 days in the county jail and 1 year of probation.
James and Barbra Chance were allowed to decide who would serve their sentence first, so the other could stay at home with their son, Konrad.
Jared Chance
Chance was charged with open murder, which was changed to second-degree murder. He was also charged with mutilation of a corpse, conceal a death, and 3 counts of tampering with evidence.
In order to bring closure to the Young family, prosecutors offered Chance a plea deal; in exchange for the location of Ashley’s head, hands, and feet, a minimum of 31 years would be recommended. Chance denied this plea and went to trial.
Chance was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to serve 100 to 200 years for the second-degree murder charge; 10 to 100 years for each of the 3 counts of tampering with evidence; 10 to 100 years for dismembering a corpse; and 6 to 100 years for concealing the death of an individual.
Chance would have to serve a minimum of 100 years before being parole eligible. His earliest discharge date is listed as 12/01/2118.
Chance appealed his sentence in 2021. His appeal was denied.
Aftermath
Jared Chance has never stated a motive for killing and dismembering Ashley Young or where her head, hands, or feet are.
Ashley Young’s family has not stopped searching for her. They have had several fundraising events to raise money to give to anyone with information that will lead them to the remains of Ashley Young.
One Comment
Acacia
That is so messed up.