Derrick Lee Wallace, 31, was found dead in a burned area of what appeared to be an abandoned homeless camp near Ninth Street and Hardesty Avenue in Kansas City on the morning of February 2, 2020. Officers reported the body on top of a shopping cart still smoldering. The Jackson County Medical Examiner’s autopsy found multiple gunshot wounds and skull fractures; the death was classified as a homicide, with the skull fractures attributed to the intense heat though blunt force trauma could not be ruled out.

Police arrested 41-year-old Mark Salisbury of Columbia the day after the discovery. Court records and police statements say Salisbury confessed to killing Wallace, admitted the crime on social media, and told investigators he and another person went to Wallace’s apartment intending to scare him after an alleged sexual assault of a relative. Salisbury said the other person struck Wallace with a machete and claimed his gun went off while he was gesturing. Prosecutors charged Salisbury with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm; he was held on a $250,000 cash-only bond.

If anyone has information about Wallace, his movements before February 2, 2020, or the events leading to his death, please share what is known.