Georgetown man faces murder charge in missing person case

A Georgetown man was indicted on a murder charge Sept. 13 in a 10-year-old missing person case.

Michael Ellingsen, 31, was indicted by a Sussex County grand jury on a charge of first-degree murder, and Delaware State Police took him into custody later that day, said Master Cpl. Heather Pepper of the Delaware State Police.

Ellingsen was taken into custody without incident and arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court 2. He was committed to Sussex Correctional Institution in default of $1 million cash bail.

In February 2011, Pepper said, John “Doug” Wisniewski, 45, of Dagsboro, was reported missing to the Delaware State Police. Over the last 10 years, she said, detectives continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding Wisniewski’s suspicious disappearance. Before he went missing, Pepper said, detectives learned Wisniewski resided on the same property as Michael Ellingsens’ home, located in the 30000 block of R Farm Lane, Dagsboro. Detectives conducted many interviews, and leads were investigated, she said, but Wisniewski was never located.

In January 2021, Pepper said, new investigative leads emerged with information that showed during the evening hours of a day in late January 2011, Ellingsen shot and killed Wisniewski, and buried his body on the property where their homes were located.

Troopers and investigators with the Division of Forensic Science searched the property on R Farm Lane in January for Wisniewski’s remains, and on Jan. 22, Pepper said, they found his body. The remains were exhumed by police and Division of Forensic Science members, and an autopsy was conducted. Pepper said Wisniewski’s death was ruled a homicide.