The Unsolved Disappearance of Joseph ‘Skyler’ Burnley
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What happened to 27-year-old Joseph “Skyler’ Burnley?
This case takes us to Brandon, Mississippi, a rural area just east of Jackson and near the center of the state.
Joseph, who goes by the name Skyler or Sky, went missing on June 3, 2016. The circumstances are beyond sketchy.
This is one of those cases that seems like it is so close to being solved. The investigators seem to have an idea of what may have happened. They think they know the ‘WHO”, but are lacking the ‘WHY” and the “WHERE”.
Skyler was a good guy- according to everyone who knew him. He said ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’, referred to everyone as Ma’am and Sir, and treated everyone with great respect. He opened doors for people and just smiled at everyone he saw.
Despite his good-guy image, Skyler did have some trouble with drugs and did do some time in jail. Skyler’s family thought he was working on that and trying to turn his life around.
However, on June 2, 2016, Skyler went to hang out with his friend, Travis Lee Brewer, and Travis’s common-law wife Amanda. At the time, Sklyer lived with his grandmother, and everyone said he took care of her and loved her tremendously. In fact, He called her on the evening of June 2, to let her know he would be spending the night at Travis and Amanda’s and he would see her later the next day.
On the morning of June 3rd, when Travis woke up, he saw that his truck had been stolen. He was pretty sure he knew who had taken it, and he woke up Skyler and Amanda, along with their 4-year old daughter, to go in search of the truck. Travis said he had left his phone inside the truck, so he called AT & T, who apparently helped him with an app to locate his phone.
With GPS in hand leading them to the missing vehicle and phone, the four of them took off to go look for Travis’s truck. They stopped at a gas station and were seen on video surveillance picking up soda and snacks around 9:45 a.m.
They then headed towards a remote part of town and were seen on a homeowner's home surveillance camera just 10 minutes later. The road they ended up on turned into a gravel road and led off into a heavily wooded area. The timestamp between the gas station and homeowners recording, tells police that they didn’t make any stops along the way and headed right into the woods.
Disclaimer: From here, what we do know, comes from Travis.
Travis said that he and Skyler got out of the car and decided to go off in two different directions to look for the truck. (Why they would need to split up when Travis had an app to lead him to the location is beyond me, but apparently, they split up and headed opposite ways.)
After a short search, Travis located his truck and walked back to the car to tell Amanda. Amanda and their little girl were hot and their car didn’t have A/C, so he apparently took them home and then went back to look for Skyler.
It wasn’t until 1:00 a.m. later that night/early next morning, that anyone knew anything was wrong. Travis called 911 and that call is… interesting.
Okay. So, he calls 911 at 1:00 a.m. in the morning? And, according to the sheriff’s department, he spent most of the call discussing his truck, and how his friend had ‘stolen’ it earlier that day, and then almost mentions Skyler as an afterthought.
Another interesting thing that Travis does that night is he goes over to Skyler’s uncle’s house. He had been there before working on cars and knew where he lived. He left a note on the door.
The note, written in pencil, says, “Travis, Sky’s friend. He is missing. I’m worried something bad has happened.” And then two phone numbers were scribbled on the note.
When Skyler’s uncle finds the note in the morning, he immediately calls Skyler’s dad, Samuel Glenn Burnley, who goes just by Glenn, and reads it to him. Glen calls Skyler’s mom first, (they are divorced) and then also calls Travis using one of the numbers on the note. Travis acts very nonchalantly and tells Glen that if he wants, the two of them can go search the woods together. Glen is immediately unsettled by this and calls the sheriff's office himself.
That Sunday, June 5th, a large search was conducted. Over 100 people comb through the woods. Law Enforcement and pretty much everyone else seemed certain they would find him in the woods. They did grid searches so as not to miss anything, they used search dogs, they searched on horseback and they even used infrared technology to locate a human body.
The sheriff said it was the most intense and thorough search he has witnessed, and he attributed that to the number of people that came out, and the fact that they all believed he was in those woods and would be found- But they found nothing. There were no signs of Skyler anywhere, no signs of any struggle, nothing at all looked out of the ordinary.
Skyler’s truck was also searched and his cell phone was inside, so there was no way to contact him or track him via his cell phone.
It became apparent pretty quickly that Travis’s story wasn’t adding up.
Police identified and located the man that had stolen Travis’s truck the night before. Matthew McCoy admitted to having taken the truck and said that they all (meaning he, Travis, Amanda, and Skyler) were smoking meth, Matthew became paranoid and took off in the truck, tossing Travis’ cell phone out of the window and into Travis’s side yard. When the police searched the yard, they did indeed find Travis’ cell phone.
So this bears the question- how did Travis track his missing truck by using an app to locate his phone, when his phone was actually in his yard the whole time? The answer the sheriff gives- is simply, he didn’t. That whole story was proven to be a lie and when confronted with that evidence Travis said nothing.
The police also obtain a search warrant for Travis and Amanda’s house and do end up arresting them on some misdemeanor drug charges. However, nothing is found to lead them to Skyler or provide them with any answers on his whereabouts.
Skyler’s father doesn’t believe that Travis is smart enough to have gotten away with something like this on his own, but he does believe he was involved or knows something about his son’s disappearance.
The police do uncover some additional interesting information. When Skyler had done some jail time previously, he had become part of the very notorious- and very dangerous gang- The Simon City Royals. Skyler’s family told police he was working on disassociating with the gang and trying to get out of that lifestyle.
Investigators do believe it is highly likely that the Simon City Royals were afraid of Skyler leaving- and because of their dealings in illegal drugs and contraband- had Skyler killed so he wouldn’t talk or possibly become an informant down the line.
I did a little bit of research on my own regarding these Simon City Royals- and they are a pretty scary bunch. This is no little under-the-radar jail gang. The Simon City Royals have been around since the 1950’s, have steadily been growing in size through the years & are currently Mississippi’s fastest-growing gang. In fact, a quick google search points out the fact that Mississippi has a huge Simon City Royals gang problem.
Here’s some info From Wikipedia:
The Simon City Royals, formally the Almighty Simon City Royal Nation, are a street gang which began in Chicago during the late 1950s as Simon City, a greaser gang. They named themselves for Simons Park, which is located on the corner of Drake and Wabansia in the Humboldt Park neighborhood where they originally formed. The Royals are one of the oldest and largest white gangs in the US.[2]
The Royals are heavily involved in the dealing of illegal drugs and other contraband, particularly in prisons where members are incarcerated. They are involved in racketeering[3] and loan sharking.[4] The gang has expanded to all other states, and is one of the fastest-growing gangs in Mississippi.[1]
Lisa Ling also did a pretty lengthy expose on this gang for CNN, if you’re interested and want to check it out.
To this day, there are no answers as to Skyler’s whereabouts.
Let’s talk about theories.
- Sky met with foul play at the hands of Travis. Did Travis attach Sky in those woods and then bury him? Toss him in a lake, or a river? What was his motive if so? Maybe drugs? Travis admitted to police they had all been smoking Meth. Could he have done something because he was high?
- Travis led Sky into the woods for someone else. One popular theory is that the Simon City Royal gang used Travis to lure Sky out in the woods, where they attacked and likely killed him. It’s possible- since there was no sign of him and the search dogs found no signs of him- that they took him somewhere else and did something with him.
- Skylar wandered off in a drug-induced state and was lost. But then, where is he? Did he succumb to the elements somewhere? Fall into a body of water?
- Skylar took off on his own. There is always a slight hope in all missing person cases that they will show back up, but it is worth mentioning in this case, no one really believes this to be true in this situation.
Skyler’s parents manage a Facebook group dedicated to spreading awareness of Skyler- ‘Help Bring Skyler Home Safely’. It’s a pretty active group, but what’s interesting is Travis’s mom is in the group and always stands in defense of her son, claiming he is innocent.
Since Skyler’s disappearance, his family has also learned that Skylar had a son. While they are so sad to know that Sky isn’t with them to be a part of his son’s life, his parents & siblings have taken an active role in this boy’s life to make sure he knows who his father was. They spend as much time with him as possible and they talk to him about his father. Skyler was always so wonderful with children & they know he would have been an amazing father. It is so sad that Skyler hasn’t been able to experience this, and even more devastating that this young boy didn’t have the chance to know his dad.
In 2019, the police said they have some new evidence that brought a lot of hope to the family. It has not been specifically stated as to what that evidence is, but it has yet to be made public.
If you have any knowledge of Skyler Burnley’s whereabouts, or if you know anything at all that might be helpful in this case- no matter how small or trivial it may seem, call the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office 601–825–1480 or Crimestoppers at 601–355-TIPS. You can remain anonymous.
What do you think happened to Skyler? Do you think Travis was involved?
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