WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. -- Officials in Arkansas say they are investigating the death of a high school senior as a homicide after the 18-year-old was found dead in a Mississippi national forest.
Fredarrious Wilson, who was last seen in his hometown of West Memphis, Arkansas, on March 5, was found in a remote section of the Holly Springs National Forest near Coffeeville, Mississippi, on Wednesday. That's about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of West Memphis.
Wilson's mother, Shirley Howell, told local news outlets that her son said he was going to the movies with a friend, but said she later learned he was with someone else.
Investigators located a signal from Wilson's phone in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, but searchers didn't find the body until Wednesday, off a rural road.
Howell told WHBQ-TV that her son rarely strayed far from home.
"He was a whole momma's boy," she said. "He joked around and liked to play. He went to school, went to work, played videos and stayed up all night."