Remains found in Pontotoc County confirmed to be that of Felicia Cox — sister-in-law of executed killer
Published 9:27 am Thursday, December 23, 2021
The remains of a woman found in Pontotoc County earlier this month have been confirmed as those of Felicia Cox.
The remains were found following a tip from an inmate who revealed the location of her body prior to his execution for other crimes last month.
On Dec. 12, police discovered the remains on land that had once belonged to Felicia Cox’s family in Pontotoc County.
District Attorney John Weddle says a DNA match was made to compare samples from the remains and Cox’s daughter.
Autopsy results are expected within two weeks, but her remains were found on December 12th.
Last month, David Neal Cox became the first inmate executed in Mississippi in nine years, put to death for killing his estranged wife, Kim Kirk Cox, and sexually assaulting her young daughter as her mother lay dying. Cox pleaded guilty in 2012 to capital murder for the May 2010 shooting death. He also pleaded guilty to multiple other charges, including sexual assault.
Cox had dropped his appeals, filing court papers calling himself “worthy of death” before the state Supreme Court set his execution date.
Questions had remained about whether David Cox was responsible for the 2007 disappearance of Felicia Cox, his brother’s wife, who was last seen in a neighboring county. Her daughter, Amber Miskelly, recently told WTVA-TV that David Cox was the last person to see her mother alive.
Before his Nov. 17 execution, David Cox told his attorneys he killed Felicia Cox in 2007, providing detailed instructions on where investigators could find her remains and waiving his attorney-client privilege after death, according to John Weddle, the district attorney for several northern Mississippi counties.
The information was presented to Weddle’s office two days after Cox’s execution, the district attorney said last week, adding that David Cox has been a longtime suspect in his sister-in-law’s disappearance.
“Our office is greatly indebted to many as we reflect on the discovery of what appears to be the remains of Felicia Cox today in Pontotoc County,” Weddle said Sunday in a statement posted to his official Facebook page. “We are thankful the family can now begin the process of giving Felicia Cox a burial.”