TUEPLO – The severely decomposed remains of a woman found near Downtown Tupelo has been identified 16 months later.
The remains were found May 12, 2024, behind a house in the 500 block of Magazine Street in a wooded area between Magazine and the railroad tracks. When recovered, the body was in a “very decomposed state,” leading Lee County Coroner Carolyn Green to feel the body had been there for a month or more.
The body was sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Pearl for autopsy and DNA extraction. While they were not able to determine a cause of death, officials identified the woman as Kathleen Fildes, 51, thanks to the assistance of a DNA computer database. She was believed to be homeless at the time, having come to Mississippi from Las Vegas, Nevada.
In January 2024, Fildes was booked into the Lee County Jail by the Tupelo Police Department, charged with possession of a Schedule II drug and possession of marijuana. In the jail docket book, she was listed as homeless.
Anyone with any information regarding potential relatives of Fildes, is asked to call the Lee County Coroner’s Office at 662-687-1852