Neshoba County Sheriff's Department Identifies Skeletal Remains.

On June 30, 2023, the Neshoba County Sheriff’s Office received laboratory results from Scales Biological Laboratory that confirms the identity of the human remains recovered from County Road 729. The initial call on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, was reported by a motorist on her way to work. She reported finding a human skull on the roadside near the intersection of CR 729 and CR 733 in Neshoba County. The skull was collected by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Crime Scene Unit, along with Neshoba County Sheriff’s Investigators.

Just a few days later on Saturday, April 22, 2023 another discovery brought officers back to the area. A human femur bone was recovered by a local resident after a dog brought it into the yard. The resident contacted a Neshoba County Sheriff’s Investigator, who collected the evidence.

On May 18, 2023, Scales Biological Laboratory matched a DNA profile from a sample that was submitted from Zachary Burrage’s daughter. The femur was a 99.998% match to the submitted swabs of DNA. The results listed Zachary Burrage as the biological father to the DNA sample.

On June 30, 2023, Scales Biological Laboratory matched the DNA profile from Zachary Burrage’s femur to the skull (petrous bone) that was recovered from CR 729.

Zachary Burrage was last seen on January 31, 2021. His silver 2009 Honda Accord was found wrecked and abandoned in a ditch on CR 729, near the intersection of CR 733 at 7:30 pm. Several searches were made for Mr. Burrage to include K-9 searches with cadaver dogs, use of drones, and over land grid searches in this area.

Kemper County Sheriff’s Office, Mississippi Bureau of Investigations and Neshoba County Sheriff’s Office have worked together to help locate Zachary Burrage since he went missing in 2021.

If you have any information concerning this or any criminal activity in the Neshoba County- Philadelphia area, call 601-656-1414 or East Mississippi Crime Stoppers at 1-855-485-8477.