Three days after being reported missing, an Arkansas teenager was found shot to death in a forest in Mississippi.
According to Mister Truth, which cites the West Memphis Police Department and the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department, the body of 18-year-old Fredarrious Wilson was discovered in a remote area of Holly Springs National Forest not long after he was reported missing on March 5.
Fredarrious’ mother, Shirley Howell, told that she became concerned when he didn’t come home that Sunday after telling her she was going on a date with a classmate. She said she later learned he’d ended up with someone else.
“My son didn’t have any enemies, nor was he a trouble child, he worked, went to school, and played his game he was a pure momma’s boy,” she wrote on Facebook.
Investigators tracked a signal from Fredarrious’ phone near the forest in Yalobusha County, but his body wasn’t found until March 8 off County Road 243 when a U.S. Forest Service employee working in the area spotted it, according to news.
“We searched the area for over six hours Tuesday night, but were unsuccessful,” Yalobusha County Sheriff Jerimaine Gooch told . “The area is very remote.”
While authorities have not revealed Fredarrious’ cause or manner of death, Howell said she was informed her son was found with gunshot wounds. According to Howell, Fredarrious was spotted on security footage with a woman at a McDonald’s in West Memphis the night he was last seen, WREG reports.
Law enforcement has not named a person of interest or made any arrests in the case.
“Sadly, it wasn’t the outcome we wanted,” Sheriff Gooch said, per news. “Our focus is on this investigation, making an arrest and providing answers and closure for his family. Our prayers go out to them.”
Fredarrious was a senior at the Academies of West Memphis High School, which also put out a statement last week mourning his death, saying Fredarrious “would light up the classroom with his smile, and his kindness and magnetic personality garnered the adoration of staff and students alike.”
The statement continues: “We offer our deepest condolences to his family, for we know that our continued support and strength for one another in this community will help us all get through this time of sorrow.”