(Memphis) Police say a beloved father, missing since Friday, is dead.
The body of Willie Burnett, Sr. was found Monday morning behind an MLGW yard in South Memphis.
Police say it was discovered after an MLGW worker ran across the missing 78-year-old’s truck.
Not far away, police discovered his body.
His family members seemed to know right away it was him.
One of Burnett’s daughters rushed to Gill Road in tears
“It’s my father,” she said.
Her father disappeared three days earlier.
Suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Some believe he may have gotten lost when he hit the dead-end road, got out of his truck and somehow died nearby.
“It hurts. It hurts,” said Friend Thomas Alston.
Alston says he’s known, who he calls ‘Willie B’, for more than thirty-five years.
He calls Burnett, a working man, family man and the father of well-known Memphis Judge Betty Thomas Moore.
This weekend, she believed her dad would be found alive, “We believe God is going to send him home.”
Monday, her large family got word that he’s already there.
“We have lost a good man, a good friend, a co-worker and father to the children,” said Friend Walter Bryant.
“It’s hard to lose a loved one. He was a great guy,” said Alston.
“I will miss him,” said Bryant.