A missing person case in Jackson, Mississippi, has taken a gruesome turn after investigators discovered a body buried deep in a backyard while searching for 81-year-old Carol Ryan. The elderly woman, who was reported missing on Saturday, was supposed to be residing in a nursing home in Brandon. However, a family member’s tip revealed she had not been seen or heard from in months, leading police directly to her former residence.
The home is currently occupied by her son, 50-year-old John Ryan, and his 48-year-old wife, Samantha Ryan. Acting on a search warrant, Jackson police utilized cadaver dogs, which alerted investigators to a specific area in the backyard. The subsequent excavation revealed a scene that Jackson Police Chief Tyree Jones described as a sophisticated concealment. Officers recovered a body wrapped in a tarp, buried between six and eight feet deep, and encased under a layer of concrete.
While a formal identification from the medical examiner is pending, Chief Jones stated that the remains appear to have been buried long before the official missing person report was filed. The investigation into Carol Ryan’s whereabouts remains open until the remains are positively identified. Currently, the motive and the exact timeline of the burial remain the focus of local forensic teams.
John and Samantha Ryan were taken into custody and charged with desecration of a human corpse. John Ryan is being held at the Hinds County Jail on a $100,000 bond, while Samantha Ryan’s bond was set at $75,000. Authorities have signaled that the investigation is far from over, with Chief Jones noting that additional, more severe charges are likely as the medical examiner determines the cause of death.
