Two men were missing in Winston County with one ending in tragedy

WINSTON COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- The search for two missing men yields heartbreaking news for one family in Winston County.

“First of all, I’d like to begin by offering our sympathy and our condolences to the family of Mr. Melvin Sherrod,” said Winston County Sheriff Jason Pugh.

Melvin Sherrod was one of the two men who went missing this past week in Winston County; unfortunately, he drowned in a pond on the property where he hunted.

“At this time we’re going to believe it was some sort of medical complication and probably we would have to assume freshwater drowning,” said Pugh.

Pugh and his team heard about Sherrod in the midst of searching for another missing man, Sherrod’s close friend, Onzie Glenn. Using a drone, investigators spotted Glenn coming out of the woods. He was taken to a nearby hospital, and the drone is actually what came in handy when it came to locating Sherrod’s body.

“We got the call Friday we went immediately to the scene as soon as I got on the scene I had the drone set up and deployed within five minutes I had it up and doing a circular search pattern from the actual location where the vehicle was,” said Deputy of Winston County Scott Kohrs.

“We identified that one of the ponds was right along with that path and that was one of the areas that the drone was iffy…It did identify a couple of things along the bank, but the water was too deep to see in so at that point we deployed the hooks, and unfortunately, that’s when we found Mr. Sherrod’s body, ” said Kohrs.

Both Pugh and Kohrs are grateful for the drone despite its imperfections.

“That was very essential to us in this search. We had 22 hours of flight time,” said Pugh.

“Is it perfect? No, it has its limitations, but it provides another tool in our toolbox that allows us to better support our citizens in Winston County,” said Kohrs.

Sherrod’s death is a blow to the community, however, Pugh says he’s grateful for everyone who helped with the investigation.

“To have that community cooperation and that community response it’s tremendous and it’s heartwarming to see a community come together and try to find one of their own,” said Kohrs.

Pugh and his staff say they are grieving along with Sherrod’s family.