Man, 22, charged with murder in disappearance of missing Ole Miss student, police say
UPDATE: A Grenada, Mississippi, man has been arrested in the case of missing University of Mississippi student Jimmie “Jay” Lee, the Oxford Police Department confirmed Friday, July 22. Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr. is charged with murder in Lee’s disappearance and remained held without bond as of July 25. Lee’s remains haven’t been found, police said. The original story continues below.
A University of Mississippi student remains missing days after he disappeared from an off-campus apartment complex. Now police are asking for the public’s help.
Jimmie “Jay” Lee, 20, was last seen Friday, July 8, leaving the Campus Walk Apartments in Oxford just before 6 a.m., according to Oxford police and The University of Mississippi Police Department.
Lee was last seen wearing a silver housecoat, a gold sleeping cap and gray slippers and was driving a 2014 black Ford Fusion with Mississippi license plate “JAYLEE1,” university police wrote in a missing person alert. Friends said he hasn’t been heard from since.
“The departments are utilizing all available resources to track tips, potential witnesses, speaking with friends, running search warrants, canvassing areas and collecting evidence,” the agencies wrote in a joint statement Tuesday, July 12. “We are asking the public again for any tips, information ... that will lead to Lee being found.”
CrimeStoppers also pledged an $1,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of the missing college student.
On July 11, authorities found Lee’s car in impound after it was moved from the Molly Barr Trails apartments where police believe he was visiting before he disappeared, according to a news release.
Neighbor Lakiowa Milan told WLBT the situation is unusual and out of character for Lee.
“I hope it’s not what it is,” Milan told the news station. “They should be alert now if it is a kidnapping because it is unlike him.”
She described the 20-year-old as “real energetic,” “friendly” and “the life of the party,” according to WLBT.
No other information was immediately available.
Lee is 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds with black and brown hair and brown eyes, police said.
Anyone with information on Lee’s whereabouts is asked to call Oxford police at 662-232-2400, or University of Mississippi police at 662-915-7234.
Oxford is about 90 miles southeast of Memphis, Tennessee.
This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Man, 22, charged with murder in disappearance of missing Ole Miss student, police say."