Body found near Buck Wade Loop positively identified as Trent Williams

This story has been edited to correct dates and updated to reflect status on determining the cause of death.

By Crystal Burns

A body found in a field near Buck Wade Loop in Trenton on Friday has been positively identified as Trent Williams.

Trenton Lt. Jimmy Wilson confirmed the identification Saturday after speaking to the medical examiner in Memphis. Wilson said the Gibson County Sheriff’s Department and the Jackson Police Dept. Aviation Unit and K-9 Unit helped Trenton police search the area as weather permitted last week.

Police believe that Williams, 35, of Trenton stole a John Deere tractor from 805 Gibson Road in Trenton on Saturday, Feb. 9, Wilson said. Wade Williams, no relation to the suspect, reported the theft at 4:30 that afternoon. Police used a GPS tracker to find the tractor, which was in a field near Buck Wade Loop.

Due to muddy conditions, officers crossed the field on foot and found that the tractor had been abandoned in a ditch but was still running. Officers were unable to locate the subject.

Heavy rainfall early the next week hampered the search, but Wilson said officers continued looking, working on the assumption that the suspect was still in the fields.

On Monday, Feb. 11, Trent Williams’ family filed a missing person’s report. Police initially believed the report was unrelated to the tractor incident, Wilson said. As they collected more information, police were able to obtain a warrant for Williams’ arrest Tuesday, Feb. 12.

Police located Williams’ body Friday about 600 feet from where they believe he crashed the tractor in a ditch. Wilson said the cause of death is pending the toxicology report, but the autopsy found now serious trauma.