Slain Grand Rapids area mother of five ‘adored her kids,’ aunt says

By Stone Andrews On Aug 31, 2022

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — When Mollie Schmidt’s father came to her Grand Rapids area home more than a week ago for a visit, she wasn’t there.

But he found a note on her desk.

It showed a hand drawn heart and smiley face, reminding Schmidt of her daughter’s upcoming first day of kindergarten. She planned to celebrate the day with her.

It was then he realized something was wrong. She would never miss such a moment. But she could not be reached.

Schmidt’s relatives are remembering that devotion to her children as they grieve her death in a shooting police say was a homicide. Investigators are looking for a 44-year-old Wyoming man, Yenly Garcia, as a person-of-interest. Officers found her body at his Wyoming apartment on Tuesday, Aug. 30.

Related: Body of missing Kent County woman found

“She loved her family with all her heart,” said Lisa McGraw, an aunt to 33-year-old Mollie Schmidt. “She was such a sweet person.”

“She adored her children,” McGraw said of Schmidt, a mother of five. The kindergartener is the second youngest in the family.

Schmidt was reported missing after she was last seen Aug. 21 leaving her home near East Beltline Avenue NE and Five Mile Road. Kent County sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday issued a public notice about her being missing.

Later the same day, her body was found as police executed a search warrant at an apartment in the 1500 block of 44th Street SW.

McGraw said the death has devastated her family.

“It’s heartbreaking. My big brother is destroyed. This is his baby daughter,” she said.

McGraw said she was not aware of any relationship between Garcia and Schmidt.

“None of us had ever heard of him,” she said.

She thanked the police and other authorities for their efforts in the case and is asking the public to call investigators with any information they have about Garcia. McGraw said she wants justice for her niece.

Garcia was last known to be driving a black 2019 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup with a Michigan plate of ELW6780.

Anyone with information about him can call Wyoming police at 616-530-7300, Silent Observer at 616-774-2345 or at 1-866-774-2345 or by going to https://www.silentobserver.org.