A homicide investigation was launched in the death of Malik Jones, inset, whose body was found by family members. (Crime scene screengrab via YouTube/KMIZ; image of Jones via obituary)
A homicide investigation was launched after the body of a 25-year-old missing man was found in the woods off a road in Missouri by his mother and sister while they were driving around looking for him.
The body of Malik Jones was found Wednesday shortly before noon on North Creasy Springs Road in Boone County, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release .
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Jones’ mother, Shawna Patterson, told local NBC affiliate KOMU she and her daughter found the area in Columbia where officials think he had driven his blue Chevrolet Malibu.
“My daughter said, ‘Mom, stop. Back up,’ and I backed up. She got out of the car, and she just immediately started screaming. I jumped out of the car and we saw Malik laying there,” Patterson said. “It’s the hardest thing I think I’ve ever had to do in my entire life. To see my baby, my son, laying there like that.”