Jessica Chambers case: Narrowing in on 'possible people of interest'

While investigators are still mum on the specifics of the probe into the death of Jessica Chambers, the Panola County teen burned to death earlier this month, they say they're making slow and steady progress.

Chambers, 19, was found on Herron Road in Courtland a little after 8 p.m. Dec. 6, walking away from her burning vehicle with burns over 98 percent of her body. Coroner Gracie Gulledge said the cause of the young woman's death was thermal injury. Officials immediately classified it as a homicide.

With several agencies including the Panola County Sheriff's Department, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, the ATF, the State Fire Marshal's office, and the US Marshals Service involved, Sheriff Dennis Darby said a lot of the investigation operates on looking at the same information, witnesses, evidence and statements from many different angles.

"We've got all these agencies combined together, and we're coordinating everything and getting everyone to look over our work and we're looking over theirs," Darby said on Tuesday. "Some of these people don't give you good information sometimes, and we compare the stories and when we find discrepancies, and those people are the ones we need to recall."

Darby said authorities are narrowing the list down to some "possible people of interest that could lead us somewhere better than where we are."

Ben Chambers, Jessica's father, works for the sheriff's department. He said authorities are leaving him out of the loop on a lot of the investigation, though he said he understands why.

"I can't even go up front in the offices because they've got all the ATF and FBI and everything up front and they don't want me to see the evidence up there. I understand their point too, they're looking out for my benefit," he said. "They don't want me to see things that bring back memories, or see something that maybe I'll think someone had something to do with it and I'll go do something to some innocent person. They're doing everything by the book when it comes to me."

It's frustrating, though, to see people interviewed by media about the case, and it's hard to believe there's no information out there, Ben Chambers said.

"They've questioned people that normally know everything about everything, and nobody seems to know anything about this, that's what's so amazing and unbelievable," he said.

So the family waits, trying to push through the holiday season while the investigation moves at the pace of real investigations, as opposed to Hollywood crimes that are solved overnight.

"It's hard. Just waiting on that DNA evidence and stuff like that coming back, that's the hardest part," he said.

There's also still a lot of other evidence being processed and evaluated, Darby said.

"There's still crime lab and DNA stuff that we're working on and waiting on," he said, adding that there is still analysis into some aspects of the fire.

"So we're going back over what we have and pulling people of interest, and we're using the tips that we still have coming in, hoping we'll come up with some more," Darby said.

Not all of the agencies involved in the case still have heavy presences on the ground, however, as many of them need access to their equipment.

Meanwhile, the reward remains at $17,800 for information leading to the apprehension and conviction of the person who killed Jessica Chambers.

"It doesn't really seem like a holiday, you know. She's got a 4-year-old sister and it's hard to explain to her, she keeps thinking she's hurt, you know," Ben Chambers said. "I loved my daughter so much and miss her. All these folks can't imagine how this has messed up so many lives."

"I don't know what she could do to somebody, but if she did something to them, or if she owed them money, I'd have paid it. I'd have done anything for her."

Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-729-2169.

Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com or (601) 961-7236. Follow @TRex21 on Twitter.