Incident Report – body found (1987)

YOKNAPATAWPHA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT

Incident report

Investigating Officer: Det. T. Nelson
Incident Reported: 12/13/87, 7:13 a.m.
Incident Address: Hathorn Road, south of Creekmore Blvd.
Victim's name: Kevin Gilmore (tentative ID)
Age: 20
Address: 230 Kinard Hall, University, MS
Suspects: None at this time

Description of Incident:

At approximately 7:13 a.m., dispatch received a 911 call reporting a dead body on the side of Hathorn Road, approximately 500 feet south of Creekmore Blvd.

The caller identified herself as Mae Jenkins, an employee of the University of Mississippi Physical Plant. Jenkins said the body was found by another employee, Tomas Robards, who was still at the scene.

Det. D. Anderson and I were on duty at the time and proceeded directly to the scene, notifying coroner's inspector Ricky Davis en route.

We arrived at the scene at 7:42 a.m., and found that Officer Watson had secured the area and detained the witness, Tomas Robards.

Watson reported that when he arrived on the scene, he found Robards sitting in his 1977 green Ford pickup truck. Watson secured Robards in the back seat of his patrol car, and then approached what Watson described as the body of a white male, approximately 18-25 years old.

After verifying that the victim did not appear to be breathing and had no pulse, Watson taped off the area and secured the scene with assistance from Deputy Nichols.

The victim was lying face up in a grassy traffic island created by Hathorn Road and a semicircular driveway. The victim's head was to the south, and both arms were extended on the ground above his head. Cuts, abrasions and contusions were visible on the victim's face and hands. The victim's legs were extended with the feet pointing north.

The victim was fully clothed, wearing blue jeans, a blue Ole Miss Basketball hooded sweatshirt, white sneakers and socks.

Other than the minor wounds on the face and hands, there were no other signs of injury and no apparent cause of death.

Coroner's Inspector Davis arrived at the scene at 8:03 a.m. After a preliminary examination, Inspector Davis said the victim may have been dead for 12 to 48 hours, but cautioned that further information and more details would be available post-autopsy.

Inspector Davis checked the victim's pockets and found a key ring with four keys, a restaurant check with the notation "4:20 12/11 2AM" and a University of Mississippi student identification card issued to Kevin Gilmore. The photo on the ID card appeared consistent with the victim, but victim identification will need to be confirmed.

When Inspector Davis moved the body, a key with a washer attached was found underneath it and taken into evidence.

Inspector Davis oversaw transportation of the body to the morgue for autopsy.

Detective Anderson and I returned to the Sheriff's Office to interview Tomas Robards, who had been transported there earlier by Deputy Nichols.

REPORT FILED 12/13/87, 8:00 P.M., BY DET. TERRY NELSON