Shardee McGill, 32, and her 3-year-old daughter, Janae, were reported missing on Sept. 22, by the pair’s husband and father, Johnathan McGill, before their bodies were found days later
A Mississippi mom and her child have been found dead in Alabama.
The bodies of Shardee McGill, 32, and her 3-year-old daughter, Janae, were found separately on Thursday, Sept. 25, and Friday, Sept. 26, according to WLBT, WAPT and AL.com. The husband and father, Johnathan McGill, had reported them missing on Monday, Sept. 22.
Police in Jackson, Miss., said that the mother and daughter left their home in northeast Jackson on Sunday night in Shardee’s Chevrolet Equinox and never returned. They were later listed in the National Crime Information Center database as missing persons.
Police in Epes. Ala. — located about 130 miles outside of Jackson — recovered the car on Tuesday, Hinds County Sheriff and Interim Jackson Police Chief Tyree Jones said during a press conference on Friday.
“This young lady left the residence with her mother,” Jones said. “It wasn’t a situation where there was a kidnapping or a custodial kidnapping.”
“Based on that information, I’m not sure that it actually qualified for an Amber Alert,” Jones added. “However, we did send out several alerts to the media through our various social media pages and in press releases.”
On Thursday, multiple agencies including the FBI were searching for Shardee and Janae in Epes when Shardee’s body was discovered in a shallow body of water off of the Tombigbee River, Sumter County Coroner Sonya Jemison confirmed to AL.com.
The search continued for Janae into Friday afternoon, the outlets reported, and Alabama authorities found Janae’s body not far from where her mother was found.
“The missing person alert in the case of Janae McGill-3 has been cancelled,” the sheriff wrote on Facebook soon after the 3-year-old’s body was discovered. “Search team authorities in Alabama located a body earlier today in an area in close proximity to where Shardee McGill was discovered. The body was later identified as Janae.”
Jones said during the press conference that Johnathan was detained for questioning after he traveled to Alabama.
“Upon him being questioned, he was released by law enforcement,” the sheriff said.
Jones added that both Shardee and Janae’s deaths are being treated as “suspicious,” and their causes of death have not yet been made public.
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“At this particular time, it’s too early to say who’s involved, nor do we any type of suspect information regarding the investigation,” Jones said during the press conference on Friday.
The Jackson Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for further information on Sunday, Sept. 28.
If anyone has any information related to this case, contact the Jackson Police Department at (601) 960-1234 or Crime Stoppers at (601) 355-TIPS (8477).
