Police, family continue to seek whereabouts of Tyress Gipson

by Jo Anne Embleton news@thecherokeean.com

A missing persons case dating back to last summer remains under investigation, as police seek information on the whereabouts of Jacksonville resident Tyress Gipson.

On Aug. 23, 2020, Gipson, 18, was reported missing, last seen by his mother, La Vance Hill-Wooten, as he headed out for the evening.

The family contacted Jacksonville police the day after to file a missing persons case.

While several individuals were arrested in connection with the disappearance, the case continues to be actively investigative, said Jacksonville Police Chief Joe Williams.

Arrested in connection with the teen’s disappearance, all charged with aggravated kidnapping, are Breonna Jimenez, Jermaryon Lane, Derrick Hicks and Cameron Shead.

Shead, of Palestine, was indicted by a Cherokee County Grand Jury in December 2020 for capital murder.

He, Jimenez and Lane remain in Cherokee County Jail; Hicks bonded out of jail in December 2020.

Williams said none of these individuals are cooperating with police in the investigation.

In an Aug. 22 a social media, Hill-Wooten remarked that it has been “a year since I’ve seen my handsome baby boy or heard his voice asking me what I’m cooking, of course.

“How I pray that everyone who loves and holds Tyress near and dear to their hearts have peace today and every day after!!! I knew when I woke up this morning that I was going to have a million emotions thinking about u and where u could possibly be (that) takes me back to the first moment I realized that the enemy had entered our lives and changed it forever,” she said.

“But u know ur momma is going to fight to the end for your justice and keep praying for someone to say where you are,” she added.