Uncle takes 17-year-old on trip, then teen’s body found in brush, MS cops say
CLARIFICATION: McClatchy News has removed the suspect’s name because authorities in Mississippi said they have withdrawn the charge against him after the victim’s autopsy results were inconclusive.
The story continues below.
An uncle took his 17-year-old nephew out of Tennessee state custody for an unauthorized road trip, then the teen’s body was found on the side of the road in rural Mississippi, authorities said.
The 17-year-old was in custody of Tennessee Child Protective Services when his 37-year-old uncle got permission to take him for two days, on the condition that they didn’t leave Tennessee, deputies said.
The uncle then took his nephew to Louisiana to see family, and on the way back, they reportedly got in an argument, Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson told McClatchy News.
The 17-year-old didn’t report back to CPS on July 7 as expected, so staff contacted his family, according to investigators. The teen’s dad had his son’s location through Life360 and saw that his phone last pinged near an intersection in Vossburg, Mississippi, about 3 miles from the local highway exit, the sheriff said.
Deputies in Jasper County went looking for the boy and found his body in a dense patch of kudzu vines about 10 feet from the road on the other side of a hillcrest, according to the sheriff.
The teen had trauma to his body, but an autopsy did not determine a “definitive cause of death,” the sheriff said.
“We had a real good idea of what happened, I don’t doubt what we’re thinking happened, but apparently it’s not the cause of death,” Johnson told McClatchy News on July 14.
The same evening the body was found, deputies with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office arrested the teen’s uncle in Collinwood, Tennessee, about a 280-mile drive north from where the boy’s body was found.
He was initially charged with manslaughter, but after the inconclusive autopsy, the charge was dropped. The investigation is ongoing.
This story was originally published July 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Uncle takes 17-year-old on trip, then teen’s body found in brush, MS cops say."