By Walter Bell

(Crime Library)

— The body of Olamide Adeyooye, was found in Newton, Mississippi last Friday morning. Adeyooye, from Lagos, Nigeria, was a clinical sciences senior at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. She had been missing since October 13^th, when last seen in a Normal video store.

On Monday morning, October 17^th, Newton law enforcement authorities received reports of a chicken coop fire, off highway 80 in Newton County. Four days later, the property owner went to clean up his burned-out structure and discovered the body of an African-American female amidst the debris. The shocked man immediately notified the Newton County Sheriff's Office.

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Mississippi Highway Patrol crime scene investigators began processing the crime site. Authorities noticed the unidentified body matched the physical description of Adeyooye, which they had received from electronic alerts. On October 24^th, the Newton Sheriff's Office notified the Normal Police Department about the similarities and possible link.

Illinois authorities quickly sent Olamide Adeyooye's medical and dental records to the Newton County medical examiner. Yesterday, it was announced the body found in the chicken coop was hers. No cause of death has been released since there is an ongoing investigation.

"As far as the cause of death, we believe she was already deceased when the body was dropped off in Newton County," said Newton County Sheriff Jackie Knight. "We have investigators from Illinois here with us, but we believe the actual death took place in Illinois." He added that there were no signs of sexual abuse.

Lieutenant Mark Kotte of the Normal Police Department said, "We still have a list of persons of interest and that hasn't really changed. We still have quite a few people we need to talk to, and also people now that we will be re-interviewing." Kotte said they are still looking for Adeyooye's killer and her green Toyota Corolla, which is still missing.

The murdered woman's father, Adiodun Adeyooye, expressed his deep grief and commented that he wanted justice. "I believe Olamide's spirit will find the culprit. Whoever might have killed her, Olamide's spirit will find him out in Jesus' name."

Adiodun Adeyooye's 21-year-old daughter was to graduate in December.

Walter Bell can be contacted at wabell@comcast.net