In late summer 2015, eighty-year-old Lee Kendrick of Pearl, Mississippi, disappeared after failing to return home on the evening of August 31. His wife relied on him for care, and their daughter reported him missing the next day. A search ended on September 2 when Kendrick’s body was found in a vacant, squalid apartment at the Cedarstone Apartments in Jackson. He had been shot once in the back of the head. Investigators noted his cell phone, watch, and glasses were neatly placed in his shoes near his body, and his shirt was folded.

The investigation focused on two people, Loren Shell-Blackwell and Walter Lee Young. Bank surveillance placed Kendrick at a bank the afternoon of August 31, and later footage showed Shell-Blackwell driving Kendrick’s car after the killing; the vehicle was later found abandoned in another county. Young turned himself in on September 8 and ultimately testified that he saw Shell-Blackwell shoot Kendrick. A Hinds County jury convicted Loren Shell-Blackwell of capital murder and automobile theft; she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Did anyone in Pearl or Jackson recognize Kendrick from the surveillance footage or have information about his movements on August 31?