Mississippi police have found the bodies of a man, woman and young boy that they believe could be the members of a family that went missing a few days earlier.
Copiah County Coroner Ellis Stuart told the Associated Press that authorities found the remains in a deserted house located just one mile from where the family's burned car was found on Saturday. Stuart also said that the bodies matched the physical descriptions of 7-year-old Jaidon Hill, his mother Atira Hill-Smith, 30, and father Laterry Smith, 34.
The family was reported missing on Friday. Their car was found the next day, crashed on Shelby Road off Mississippi Highway 18, ablaze.
The bodies are scheduled to be moved to Jackson, where they'll be identified, following an autopsy.
Jackson Police also found some items that appeared to be associated with the family in a dumpster at a gasoline station in south Jackson. Among the possessions were some pieces of clothing and Atira Hill Smith's ID card for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she was employed.
Copiah County Sheriff Harold Jones reported to local news stations that authorities had been tipped off about the bodies by Jackson resident Timothy Burns, 42. Jones also stated that the three alleged members of family were all shot. Burns was arrested as a potential suspect and is currently being held in Copiah County jail, AP reported. He hasn't been formally charged yet, and officials have not publicized any information concerning why investigators sought out Burns, or his possible link to the family.
Authorities currently believe that the family was murdered prior to the crash on Saturday, and that the suspect ditched the bodies at the abandoned house.
