YEAR IN REVIEW #12: Two women murdered in Isabella County in unrelated incidents
Two Isabella County women were killed in unrelated incidents in 2011 and in both cases their husbands were charged with open murder.
On Nov. 21 Stephanie Rochelle Fish, a 34-year-old from Weidman, was found dead in her home located in the 900 block of North Rolland Road in Sherman Township. Stephanie's husband, Jason Lantz Fish, also a 34-year-old from Weidman, was arrested by the Isabella County Sheriff’s Department on an open murder charge.
Before her body was discovered in the crawl space of the couple's home, Stephanie was reported missing.
The case began as a missing persons investigation Nov. 20, when an Amber Alert was issued for the couple’s four-year-old son Brody Fish. Mioduszewski said Brody and Jason were located in Genessee County on the evening of Nov. 21 by a deputy, who saw Jason’s green 2011 Ford Explorer at a rest area.
On Dec. 15 Fish was ordered to stand trial for the murder.
Cheryl Kristine Reen, a former Central Michigan University employee, was found dead April 1 and her husband, Gary John Reen, was charged with open murder.
Gary Reen, 56 of Chippewa Township, was charged April 2 after turning himself over to police and telling them he shot his wife. On Dec. 8 Gary Reen was sentenced in Isabella County Circuit Court to a maximum of 72 years in prison for the second-degree murder. Cheryl Reen worked as an administrative secretary for the School of Health Sciences as recently as 2005.
Deputies found the body of the 51-year-old woman in a pole barn at a residence located at 7120 E. River Road, where Gary Reen told deputies he had shot her, said Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski.
Investigators determined Cheryl Reen was shot at least two times with a handgun.
Reen is also charged with felony firearm possession. He has asked for a court-appointed attorney to represent him.
The alleged homicide stemmed from a domestic dispute at the home, about a mile and a half north of the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, 6800 Soaring Eagle Blvd.
“They were having marital problems at the time,” Mioduszewski said.
Sheriff’s deputies and Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police arrived at the scene after Reen turned himself in.
The Reen’s 15-year-old son was also staying at the residence prior to the incident.
