Missing Rankin County Family Found Dead

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – The bodies of three people believed to be members of a missing Mississippi family have been found in Copiah County south of Jackson.

Coroner Ellis Stuart says the bodies were found in an abandon house off Shelby Road, about a mile from where the family’s vehicle was found Saturday.

Stuart says the bodies matched the descriptions of Jaidon Hill, 7, Atira Hill-Smith, 30, and Laterry Smith, 34. They were reported missing Friday. Their vehicle was found crashed and burning Saturday morning on Shelby Road off Mississippi Highway 18 in Copiah County.

On Monday, Jackson police recovered items linked to the family in a dumpster at a Jackson gasoline station.

Copiah County Sheriff Harold Burns told Jackson television stations that a 42-year-old man has been taken into custody in the case.