A high case load in the state’s only medical examiner’s office will mean it will be at least two weeks before the remains found in wooded land along Texas Flat Road Friday night will be positively identified. Those remains were found as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Willie Jones.
Pearl River County Coroner Derek Turnage said he initially thought results from that office would be available by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, but was notified on Saturday that staffing shortages have pushed that time frame back.
Turnage said he has notified the family of Willie Jones of the updated time frame.
While the state has hired a new doctor to staff a medical examiner’s office in Biloxi, staffing and training have not been put in place to get that office running.
“If the state could help us get that office going, it would give us a (medical examiner’s) office in the south end of the state,” Turnage said.
An arrest was made of a Rankin County man, 18-year-old Austin Brookshire, Friday night in relation to the case. That same night, remains were found on hunting property along Texas Flat Road.