Identified Human Remains Starts A Death Investigation In Lowndes County

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – A forensic test is telling investigators the identity of the human remains found last month in Lowndes County.

Now, there will be more to tell law enforcement on how a former Columbus police chief’s son died.

Selvain McQueen ll had been missing for two years before the remains were found, just off Highway 69, near his home.

Piece by piece, Lowndes County investigators knew they were finding someone’s remains.

It was a DNA analysis that led to a name.

A skull was found, along with other bones on two different occasions, just off Armistead Road.

“At this point, different scenarios have been looked into, as far as, where to search, how to search, and to maybe find more of the remains, you know, that’s our goal is to put together and recover as much of the remains as we possibly can,” says Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant.

Selvain McQueen ll was reported missing in May 2016.

His wife, Tashika McQueen, told deputies her husband had been missing for about 45 days.

Merchant says McQueen’s remains were found less than a mile away from the home he shared with his wife.

“At this point, there’s not evidence to prove homicide or anything, so this is a death investigation. The sheriff’s department has people on this every minute of the day.”

Merchant says when bones are recovered, they help tell the story of what happened.

“It will tell you something about life from those individuals that you don’t know, the wear and tear of the joints, and so forth, but it’s possible that it will give you evidence as to what caused these people to die in some manner.”

The remains were taken to the Mississippi State Crime Lab, where a positive DNA match was made, but before the match happened, investigators needed a sample.

“They asked for swabs from the subject’s mother and they were submitted to the crime lab. An independent lab was employed to run the DNA profiles of each and we got a match on those two DNAs.”

The investigation is continuing at the sheriff’s department and in a lab, but it could take a while before there are any answers.

“This is not an overnight process. This is not over a thirty-day process. We would like to draw this to a conclusion immediately, but this is going to be very slow, very meticulous moving investigation.”

There could be other remains at the Armistead Road property, but weather has hampered the search.

If you have any information, call Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers.