Missing Person Not Missing, Woodbury Police Uncover Drug Cache

Police were checking on a possible missing person at a Woodbury hotel earlier this month.

The woman told police she was fine, and instead officers found a room full of drugs, including several prescription pills, methamphetamine and about 1.2 pounds of marijuana.

Dennis Bruce Grohn, 22, of Elk Mound, Wis., now faces four felony drug charges and up to 40 years in prison and $80,000 in fines if convicted on all counts.

According to the criminal complaint:

On March 16, a officer was conducting a check at the and found a room rented by Crystal L. Smith. She had a National Crime Information Center alert out for her as a missing person—it showed she could be with Grohn, who also had a felony warrant out for his arrest in Wisconsin.

Police found Grohn in the lobby and arrested him under the Wisconsin warrant and then went to their room, where Smith told officers she was in no danger. She admitted to checking out the room but would not say who was staying there with her.

However, police smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the room, though Smith denied them entry. Officers quickly obtained a search warrant for the room and later found:

• a jar of marijuana;
• three other baggies of marijuana;
• a pillbox with numerous heart-shaped pills;
• marijuana pipes;
• a digital scale;
• a bottle of Tramadol pills (the bottle contained several other pills as well);
• a methamphetamine pipe;
• a bag of methamphetamine weighing 2.11 grams; and
• a bag of surveillance equipment.