Authorities have officially ruled the deaths of a missing Mississippi woman and her 3-year-old daughter found in an Alabama river earlier this fall to be a murder-suicide, according to law enforcement officials.
The bodies of 32-year-old Shardee McGill and her daughter, Janae McGill, were recovered from the Tombigbee River in Sumter County in late September after the pair was reported missing from Jackson, Mississippi.
McGill and her daughter were last seen in the Jackson area on September 21, and McGill’s husband reported them missing the following day when they failed to return home. Days later, McGill’s vehicle — a Chevrolet Equinox — was found parked near the river in the community of Epes, prompting a multi-agency search involving Mississippi and Alabama authorities.
An adult body was recovered from the river on Sept. 25, and the child’s body was found a day later. Both were taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for autopsy and identification, which confirmed they were McGill and her daughter.
After a lengthy investigation, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s State Bureau of Investigation determined that both deaths resulted from drowning. McGill’s death was officially ruled a suicide, while her daughter’s death was ruled a homicide, with McGill identified as the suspected perpetrator. Authorities stated there are no additional suspects in the case.
Officials have not released detailed information about the specific circumstances leading up to the deaths, and the investigation remains ongoing. Findings from the probe will be turned over to the 17th Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office in Alabama.
The tragic outcome has drawn attention to the complexities and challenges surrounding missing persons investigations that cross state lines. Local law enforcement agencies worked in conjunction with the FBI, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, and other partners during the search earlier this year.
Authorities have not provided a motive, and family members have largely remained private since the initial news of the disappearance and recovery. The community continues to mourn the loss of both mother and child, and officials have emphasized that there is no continuing threat to public safety.
