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Charges filed against woman previouly reported as missing

A summons to appear in Greene County Superior Court was issued June 1 for a Brazil woman for allegedly pointing a firearm at another female on April 21. 

Michelle Sears has had a summons issued for her appearance in Greene Superior Court on July 6 on a Class A Misdemeanor charge of pointing a firearm at another person (firearm unloaded). 

Greene County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Caleb Sipes was made aware of a call placed to Greene County Dispatch at approximately 4 p.m. on April 21. The caller informed Dispatch she was sleeping and woke up to her brother’s ex-wife pointing a gun at her. She told Dispatch she was leaving the residence and requested a call from an officer. 

Deputy Sipes reached out to the caller who, according to the probable cause affidavit, said she had been sleeping and woke to her brother sitting on her bed. She asked him where he’d been as she hadn’t seen him in two weeks. He allegedly replied that he’d been with her, referring to Sears. The caller said she looked into her kitchen and saw Sears with a gun pointed at her. She alleged she saw Sears remove the safety from the firearm. 

According to the probable cause affidavit, the caller said Sears told her to get out of bed and said, “Come on, come at me now I got my gun and I will finish it now.” The caller alleged her brother told Sears to leave the residence. 

During a second interview with the caller later in the evening, she alleged her brother was going through the house to see if any of the items there were his. When the caller asked her brother why he allowed Sears to bring a gun into her house, he alleged it was because they weren’t sure how she (the caller) would react to Sears being there. 

When asked if she saw Sears load the gun, the caller alleged that she pulled it back, looked at it, and was in the shooter’s stance. She said Sears wanted her to believe it was loaded. According to the probable cause, based on Deputy Sipes’ training and experience, when the slide is pulled to the rear on a semi-automatic handgun with a magazine inserted into the magazine well, if there is an unloaded magazine, the slide would commonly lock back to the rear position.

The caller also alleged Sears had a no-contact order against her brother, which Deputy Sipes confirmed. The order was served in Vigo Superior Court on March 30, 2022. 

Deputy Sipes attempted to contact Sears; however, there was no answer or option to leave a voicemail at the number he had. He contacted Sears’ brother who alleged he hadn’t seen her for a week or two but didn’t think her phone was working properly. Sipes asked him to contact the Sheriff’s Department if he had any information on where she was staying. 

Later that day, the original caller reached back out to Dispatch stating she had a contact number for Sears and advised she heard she was living on her father’s property in Linton. Upon receiving this new information, Deputy Sipes called the new number but there was no answer nor an option to leave a voicemail. He along with Lt. Bobby Pierce of the Linton Police Department went to Sears’ father’s residence in an attempt to make contact with her. No one answered the door; however, in the yard was a lawn chair with the name “Michelle” on it. Sipes left his department-issued business card with his number on it inside the door. 

On April 24, Deputy Sipes contacted Sears’ daughter who said she had not heard from her since April 20. Also on April 24, Sipes contacted Sears’ father who said he had not seen her since April 21. At that time, he said she was going to Terre Haute to get a new cell phone as she was still on her ex-boyfriend’s plan. 

Sears’ father said he was going to contact other family members and was considering filing a missing person report. Sipes advised him to contact him if they decided to do so. He also advised him to call other law enforcement agencies in areas where she typically stays and ask for welfare checks to be performed. 

Sears has been summoned to appear in Greene Superior Court July 6 on a Class A Misdemeanor charge of pointing a firearm at another person (firearm unloaded).