HAZEL PARK, Mich. – Local 4 has gotten an inside look at the attic where Jessica White's body was found.
Jordan McClanahan was arrested Tuesday night after police said he "implicated himself" in White's death, and told them where they could find her body. He is charged with first-degree murder. An autopsy determined White's death was a homicide and the cause was "strangulation by ligature." White, of Troy, was 21.
The autopsy also showed her body was violated physically and sexually after she was killed. McClanahan, 23, also faces a desecration of a body charge.
Mike McClanahan said his son Jordan was with White in their Hazel Park home that Friday. The father said they were having a mixed drink, but Jordan also was taking pills for his back which were not prescribed to him.
"I don't think he remembers anything. He done them drugs and drank on top of it and something happened to him," said Mike McClanahan.
By Tuesday, after police had been through the house, Mike McClanahan said his son Jordan was ready to get something off his chest.
"'Something's wrong, dad, something's wrong.' I said, 'What?' He said, 'I might have done something bad, dad,'" said Mike.
That's when Mike and his older son searched the house again. They looked in the crawl space this time and found the body.
Mike McClanahan said Jordan and Jessica had been friends since they were just 8 years old. He is very sorry for the White family.
"I feel so bad for Jessica's mother and dad, because I thought (Jordan) was telling the truth," said Mike.
Police said Jordan confessed to strangling Jessica White with a belt.