The Murder of Chelsea Bruck

22-year-old Chelsea Bruck was reported missing on Oct. 28, 2014. She was last seen on Oct. 26 at a Halloween party dressed as Poison Ivy from the Batman series. The party was organized by a man named Big Mike and field at his farmhouse. It's estimated that over 700 people showed up to the Halloween bash. 

Bruck and her friend Becky arrived at the party together. Bruck left her phone and purse in Becky's car. Bruck hurt herself during the party, but her friends refused to leave. Disoriented, she got separated from her friends, who left the party around 1:00 AM. She was last seen in the parking lot at 3:00 AM, crying. 

Bruck was reported missing by her family on Oct. 28. Her mother drove out to Big Mike's farm to search his property. Naturally, he became the main suspect due to owning the farm. Big Mike was apprehensive to let anyone search inside of his home, which heightened the suspicions. The police secured a warrant to search his home but found nothing. Many people weren't convinced and continued to search his property and even try to break into his home. Big Mike reported that a drone had been spying on him. 

Eventually, a witness came forward and told the police that Bruck left the party with a man. The witness helped produce a sketch of the person of interest. There are a lot of incorrect leads given to the police. One woman tried to frame her boyfriend with the murder but was arrested for lying to the police when his alibi was corroborated. Another man became a person of interest when he said that he helped save Bruck from a group of men and kept her in his truck, but the truck was stolen with her in it. That was also a farce.

On Apr. 5, 2015, part of her Poison Ivy costume was found in an abandoned building. They were unable to accurately identify any DNA. 20 days later, her body was found buried on the property of a farmer who lived near Big Mike. The farmer discovered her body when they began construction for a new building on the property. Even with the body, they could not figure out who did this to her.

On Sept. 2, 2015, Bruck's leggings were found. There was a viable DNA sample on the fabric which led to the elimination of suspects. The DNA was also able to be matched to a man named Daniel Clay, who had been recently arrested for stealing a backpack. He admitted to "accidentally" killing her during sex. He was charged with 2nd-degree murder but found guilty of first-degree murder in 2017.

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Post originally appeared on Inside Mystery.