FBI joins probe into death of Mississippi woman burned alive
JACKSON, Miss. (Reuters) - Federal investigators have joined local and state authorities to probe the death of a 19-year-old woman burned alive, a county sheriff said on Tuesday, in a case that has stymied police and horrified residents of a small Mississippi town.
Jessica Chambers was discovered on Dec. 6 on fire and walking away from her burning car outside the town of Courtland in northern Mississippi. Her whole body, save for the soles of her feet, were burned, and she later died of her injuries.
More than a week later, authorities have not identified a suspect or person of interest in Chambers' death and have made no arrests.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are all involved in the investigation, said Panola County Sheriff Dennis Darby, whose office remains in charge of the case.
"We’ve interviewed numerous, numerous people," said Darby. "Some we will reinterview."
Courtland Fire Chief Cole Haley said Chambers made a dying statement to him, but he would not disclose what she said.
Her sister told Reuters last week that Chambers had identified her killer before dying, but the sister has since declined further comment.
The unsolved killing put the town of fewer than 500 people on edge, said Courtland resident Michael Eubanks.
"It’s scary," he said. "You don’t know who it was, and it could happen to anybody else."
Panola County District Attorney John Champion said there had been an unusual lack of street chatter about Chambers' death, but autopsy results and tests from the state crime lab expected later this week could help open up more leads.
"I’ve been in a lot of murder investigations," he said. "This is one of the more bizarre that I’ve dealt with."
It is my understanding from another article... A reporter discovered the surveillance footage at the gas station. What was viewed was NOT the actual footage but a video of the video which is being suggested could have been manipulated. (Because her entire visit to the gas station was not shown) After viewing the footage, said gas station attendant (and owner) said that the time stamp had not been updated to allow for Daylight Savings Time. The gas station attendant apparently had a conversation with the victim which he remembered clearly. But never called police to say that she had been there that night. The owner of the gas station is a 19 year old radical muslim with ties to a local gang. He can be seen in pictures with members of the gang. Within hours of the accident this person had posted pictures on Facebook of the car, and said flat out that someone had poured gas down her throat. How could he have known this? The rear end of her car was undamaged in the gas station camera footage, but damaged in pictures of the car after it had been burned. She HAD been dating a member of this gang and had been in a home for abused women. She allegedly was no longer dating this gang member. He is allegedly in Iowa doing work for this gang.
I wish I had a link to post to the article I read this on and would certainly share it if I did.
You can take from this what you want. I watched the video of the statement being made by the local prosecutor and sheriff. It did not exactly instill confidence that they were willing or able to solve this case.