MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Memphis Police Department officials confirmed Sunday the body found in a burnt-out car at their impound lot last week was 20-year-old Jaderius Webb, who went missing out of Horn Lake on July 20.
MPD said the body was found in a burned vehicle two days after it was towed to the city's impound lot. The police chief said an internal review of what happened is underway.
MPD officials said first responders made a scene of a vehicle fire at Weaver Road and Tully Road about 3:40 a.m. on July 20, 2024. After extinguishing the fire, the vehicle was taken to the impound lot at 465 Klinke Avenue.
According to MPD Chief CJ Davis, when the vehicle was towed to impound, investigators took photos and completed a report, but neither firefighters nor police "could clearly see charred remains inside the burned vehicle."
Chief Davis said on July 22, an MPD officer specializing in VIN identification examined the burned out vehicle and discovered the charred remains in the rear passenger area.
"An unidentified body was...recovered from inside of the burned vehicle," MPD PIO Theresa Carlson said at the time. "The cause of death is undetermined at this time. The investigation is ongoing."
Sunday, MPD confirmed the body was Webb's.
In 2018, a man’s body was discovered inside a van, nearly six weeks after Memphis police towed the vehicle from a crime scene.
The body was discovered after a man went to retrieve his vehicle from MPD’s impound lot on Klinke Ave.
Then-MPD Director Mike Rallings told media the victim was involved in a shooting on Yale Avenue on December 18th, but that investigators did not see the victim in the back of the van.
“Incident is unacceptable and should never have happened,” Rallings said at the time. “I want to ensure that our internal investigation will be thorough. If it is found that a policy was violated, corrective action or disciplinary action will be taken.”
A wrongful death suit was filed in the case after testimony from a forensic pathologist said the man could have survived his injuries if he had received medical treatment.