Body of Memphis woman identified

A 30-year-old female, reported missing since Jan. 28, was found by the Marshall County investigative team beside I-22 in Marshall County, according to Sheriff Kenny Dickerson.

He said the body of five-foot-five Kelly Sistrunk, 30, of West Falls Road, Memphis, Tenn., was located by current day technology in use by the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department office of investigations. Cadaver dogs were also helpful in locating the deceased, he said.

Sistrunk was first reported missing by family members to the Memphis Police Department, Dickerson said.

“We made first contact with family members late Saturday afternoon,” the sheriff said. “Investigators met the family near the Marshall County landfill at the West Holly Springs area and a thorough search of the landfill turned up nothing.”

The family had done some investigating on its own prior to meeting with Marshall County investigators and the investigation continued Saturday afternoon.

Dickerson said a search by his officers alongside I-22 eastward to the Highway 7 South exit led to the recovery of the victim’s cell phone.

He believes the phone had been thrown out.

At 8:30 a.m. Sunday, investigators, along with part-time deputy Rodney Crane, gathered information that led the search party, along with cadaver dogs and teams, to a location three or four miles east of Holly Springs where several items of physical evidence were found on the shoulder of I-22.

A cadaver dogs team led by Billy Miller, a member of Search and Rescue, located Sistrunk’s body under cover of some pine trees, Dickerson said.

Investigators on the scene with the sheriff examined the body. He said it appeared that there were one or more gunshots to the head area of the deceased. A person of interest has been identified in the case which is being worked as a homicide, the sheriff said.

Personnel with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department are working with officers with the Memphis Police Department to determine where Sistrunk was killed, and whether she was killed in another jurisdiction and dumped into the wooded area.

Dickerson praised his investigative team working along side the cadaver dog team for working in extremely harsh conditions of cold and rain to locate the body.

“A lot of man hours were put in, including our officers and deputies and investigators, Chief Crane and other volunteers working under difficult weather conditions to find the body,” Dickerson said.