SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — Investigators are trying to determine if an inmate at the Shelby County Jail is linked to the discovery of human remains at a house in Southaven.
On Monday, police blocked off Stanton Road as crews searched the property for buried remains.
Mark Little with the Criminal Investigation Division confirmed an inmate told investigators a body had been dumped on the property about five years ago.
After a quiet search that last about a week, police found the remains near a fence line behind the home.
Police said they do not believe the inmate had anything to do with the person’s death.
The property does not belong to him, but he has been there before.
Rather, police said the same family has owned the home for about 40 years or so.
At this point, the people living there are not suspects.
Some people told WREG police have responded to the property before.
“We’re familiar with people that’s come and gone from here. It’s not new to us, but that doesn’t mean that has anything to do with this situation,” Little said.
According to Shelby County Court records, Josef Schnabl is linked to the property where the bones were found on Monday.
WREG reported a month ago he was the man wanted for stealing a truck and gun out of Marshall County, Mississippi.
His latest arrest was on December 27.
He was charged with aggravated robbery, carjacking, evading arrest, possession of a deadly with intent to commit a crime and two counts of theft of property.
Before that, Schnabl was convicted of second-degree murder stemming from a 2001 incident and has spent time in jail in multiple states across the South.
Southaven Police are said they are familiar with Schnabl.
In 2011, he reportedly called them and threatened to kill officers.
When they arrived at the home on Stanton, he took off running.
Right now, police are not commenting on his connection to the remains.
Police have contacted the family of the person the inmate identified as being buried there.
However, they still need to officially identify the victim.
The property bring excavated is the only residential property in the 2600 block of Stanton.
The area is otherwise industrial.
