MERIDIAN, Miss. (Queen City Newsfeed) – The Body of Julius Tadarius Jones was finally found and identified after almost 13 and a half years of searching.
Tabitha Jones, Mother of Julius Tadarius Jones, recalls getting the call last month from Lauderdale Coroner Stella McMahan that the human remains had been identified as her son.
“It was devastating. It was just devastating,” said Tabitha.
“Back in August of 2011, Julius Jones was reported missing to the Meridian Police Department, and we opened up a case and started the investigation. He was reported missing and officers responded out to different locations searching for Mr. Jones,” said Chief Deborah Naylor-Young with the Meridian Police Department.
Naylor-Young said she has been with this investigation since the beginning.
“I remember how distraught the family was. I remember how hard everyone was searching in the community, as well as law enforcement, for Mr. Jones. I remember a lot of information that was coming in from different sources that Meridian Police Department was going out and trying to investigate— both from the community and in house,” said Naylor-Young.
But eventually, that influx of information, slowly came to a stop.
“We were steadily getting different tips in, and of course, we were following up on those tips, but we weren’t coming up with anything. It eventually went cold, and he was declared deceased back in 2019, but when cases go cold and we are at a stopping point, we really aren’t stopping. We’re hoping we can get extra information in, in order to reopen those cases and search for whatever information we need,” said Naylor-Young.
Finally, in August of 2024– almost exactly 13 years later– human remains were discovered under a house in the 2600 block of 23rd avenue in Meridian.
“I would walk by that house everyday. I walk, I exercise, and I would have never thought his remains were there,” said Brenda Hopson, family friend.
“When they said they found Tadarius at this house, under this house, it was very strange. Tadarius’ car was not too far from this house. It was only about 3-4 minutes apart, and we don’t know anything about this house. We don’t know who lived there or anything of that sort. All we know is that’s where he was found, up under the house,” said Tabitha.
Tabitha is referring to Julius’ car that was discovered on 27th Street in Meridian only 3 days after he went missing.
“He was all together, if that makes sense. They found everything of Tadarius, like his whole body,” said Tabitha.
Now, friends and family are once again, mourning the loss of Julius Tadarius Jones, with no plans yet on how they will hold a memorial service in his honor. However, there is a plan in regards to brining justice to the case.
“It really affected me. You know, my heart was so tore up about it this because he was a good young man. I could never think or say anything bad about him because he had a great heart,” said Hopson.
“We’re moving forward by trying to wait and get more information from our crime lab as to a possible cause of death, and hopefully we can get that information back real soon so that we can talk with the family. If it is homicide, then we can come up with names and bring those people to justice,” said Naylor-Young.
And as for closure, Tabitha said she isn’t sure where she stands on that.
“At this moment, I don’t know what to call it. I don’t know what to say we have. All I know is that God sent Tadarius home, and I know that because of DNA. So everything else that people say, generally, or whatever, I haven’t gotten there yet. If that makes sense. The only thing I can process is that this is my son and he’s home,” said Tabitha.
Tabitha said her message for people watching this story is simple.
“Ya’ll just keep praying. It’s not over. You know, it’s not over, so we just got to keep praying. We just gotta keep those prayers,” said Tabitha. “We love my son. We love Tadarius with everything within us. We love him, and we thank God that he’s home now.”
At this time, the family is trying to raise funding so they can properly lay Julius Tadarius Jones to rest.
“As we close this interview, I want to take a moment to share the mission of the Julius Jones Foundation. Our goal is to honor the memory of Julius Tadarius Jones, cover the cost of memorial arrangements, and support his family as they navigate this unimaginable loss. We have set a fundraising goal of $4.5K and any funds received beyond that, will go towards supporting the on-going case. You generosity prayers and support mean the world to us as we work through difficult time. If you would like to contribute, you can donate through our GoFundMe ‘Honor Julius Tadarius Jones, Support His Legacy,’ or send support via CashApp to $Tabithaann23. Thank you for standing with us, for your kindness, and for helping us to keep Julius’ legacy alive. God Bless you,” said Gwendolyn Shakur, family friend.
“On behalf of the Meridian Police Department, and also from me to Tabitha, because I’ve been knowing Tabitha for a long time, my heart goes out to her and her family. We send our condolences and our sympathies to them, and we’re praying that we will get an answer for them real soon, and whatever happened to him, if someone did something to him, that we will be able to come up with a name of that person or those people that were involved,” said Naylor-Young.
