Danny Lee Tamez is remembered by his family as a father who was working to rebuild his relationship with his two sons before his life was cut short. His death remains an unsolved homicide, and his family continues to hope that someone with information will come forward. Courtesy photo
By TNCPNEWS Staff
LANSING, MI — For Dani Stuber, the passage of time has not brought closure. Instead, nearly every unanswered question surrounding the death of her former husband, Danny Lee Tamez, has become more difficult to carry—especially as she has watched their two sons grow up without the opportunity to truly know the father who had only recently returned to their lives.
Speaking with The New Citizens Press, Dani reflected not only on the complicated history of their marriage but also on the hope she saw during Danny’s final months.
“Our marriage was rocky,” she said candidly.
After the family relocated to Texas in 2013, the relationship eventually ended, and Dani returned to Michigan with their children in 2015. By then, Danny had been absent from their lives for nearly two years.
Rebuilding a Father’s Bond
When he returned to Michigan, however, something seemed to change.
According to Dani, he began calling regularly, spending time with their sons, taking them to parks, and rebuilding a relationship that had once seemed lost. She remembers seeing photographs of those outings and watching her boys slowly reconnect with their father.
“It felt like he was finally getting back into a routine with them,” she recalled.
Then, without warning, everything stopped.
Danny was supposed to pick up the children for another trip to the park. He never arrived.
“There was no phone call, no message—nothing,” Dani said.
At first, she hoped something had simply come up. Days turned into weeks with no contact. Eventually, she filed a missing person’s report.
Dani said Danny faced addiction later in life, and she believes those struggles led to difficult choices and strained relationships with some people. Even so, she never believed he would willingly disappear from his children’s lives after working so hard to reconnect with them. She hopes readers remember that, despite those struggles, he was making a genuine effort to rebuild his relationship with their sons.
An Unanswered Homicide
On August 21, 2018, employees with the City of Lansing’s Wastewater Treatment Division were dispatched to investigate a report of a partial blockage in the Herbert and Wilson Street area. Upon entering the sewer system, they discovered a body that was later identified as Danny Lee Tamez.
Dani said learning of the discovery was devastating for her family. She recalled that Danny was ultimately identified through comparisons of previous fractures and X-rays.
Following the identification, Dani said she and her current husband were interviewed by investigators and fully cooperated with the investigation.
Another detail has remained with her over the years. Based on the information she received at the time, she said Danny’s weight was estimated to be between 120 and 130 pounds. Having known him since she was eight years old, she found that difficult to reconcile.
“I’ve known Danny since I was eight years old,” she said. “He was never a small man.”
Today, Danny Lee Tamez’s case is listed by the Lansing Police Department Cold Case Unit as an unsolved homicide. Investigators continue to seek information that could help identify the person or persons responsible for his death.
For Dani, that designation reinforces what she has believed for years.
“I believe someone knows what happened,” she said.
Over the years, Dani said she has received information from individuals who believed they had knowledge relevant to the investigation. She said she forwarded that information to law enforcement, including an alleged statement reportedly made by another individual. She emphasized that she cannot independently verify those claims and understands they remain unsubstantiated.
Keeping Danny’s Memory Alive
For Dani, however, the investigation has always been about more than unanswered questions. It has been about helping two young boys understand why the father they had only recently reunited with suddenly disappeared from their lives.
When Danny died, their sons were just four and six years old.
Unable to explain the circumstances to children so young, Dani initially told them their father had become sick and gone to heaven. As the boys grew older, however, they naturally began asking more questions.
“Our oldest asked one day after school if we had any information on how he got sick,” she recalled. “I knew they deserved the truth.”
When the boys were 12 and 14 years old, Dani sat them down and shared everything she knew about their father’s death.
Her youngest son, she said, took the news especially hard.
Determined to understand what had happened, he researched the case himself and eventually found the location where his father’s body had been discovered. Without telling anyone, he visited the site on his own.
“He doesn’t let anyone talk badly about his dad,” Dani said. “He’s even defended him at school.”
Despite the struggles Danny faced during his lifetime, Dani said she and her husband have always tried to preserve the positive memories their sons have of their father.
“He isn’t here to defend himself,” she said. “I want our boys to remember the good things.”
Remembering Danny has become an important tradition for the family.
Every year on August 19, what would have been Danny’s birthday, they gather to honor his life in a quiet but meaningful way.
“Every year on his birthday, August 19, we light lanterns and release them into the sky,” Dani said. “We write anything we want about Danny and let them fly.”
For Dani and her sons, the annual tradition is a reminder that while Danny’s life ended, their love for him did not. It provides a moment to reflect, to remember happier times, and to express the thoughts they still wish they could share with him.
Over the years, Dani said she has repeatedly reached out to investigators seeking updates but has often been told there is no new information or has received no response.
She remains hopeful that someone will come forward with information that could finally provide the answers her family has sought for years.
“He wouldn’t have just walked away from his kids after finally coming back into their lives,” she said. “Our boys deserve answers. Danny deserves answers.”
Nearly eight years after Danny’s death, Dani continues to believe someone, somewhere, knows what happened. Her hope is that by sharing Danny’s story, the right person will find the courage to come forward and help bring long-awaited answers to a family that has never stopped searching.
Anyone with information regarding the unsolved homicide of Danny Lee Tamez is encouraged to contact the Lansing Police Department Cold Case Unit. Even information that may seem insignificant could help investigators move the case forward and bring justice to Danny and his family.
