In the small town of Garnett, South Carolina, the life of a family was forever changed on February 24, 2020. On that day, 17-year-old Deshawn Tyrell Burns Jr. was last seen at his home on David Drive. He reportedly left his residence with people who have not been identified and has not been seen or heard from since. The circumstances surrounding his departure were immediately concerning.
A neighbor witnessed Deshawn getting into a vehicle, but disturbingly, the car drove away with his feet still dangling outside. This unsettling detail marked the beginning of a prolonged and painful period of uncertainty for his loved ones. His mother, Shannon DeLoach, and the rest of his family were left with a void and a desperate search for answers that continues to this day.
Deshawn was a young man on the cusp of adulthood, just a week shy of his 18th birthday when he vanished. He is described as a Black male with black hair and brown eyes, standing at 5'7' and weighing around 150 pounds. In the initial stages of the investigation, law enforcement officials from the Hampton County Sheriff's Office faced significant challenges. They, along with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, attempted to locate him by pinging his cellphone, a common practice in modern missing person cases. However, these attempts were unsuccessful, leading investigators to believe that his phone was no longer in use, a fact that Sheriff Thomas Smalls described as atypical for a teenager. The search for clues also extended to his social media presence, but that too yielded no fruitful leads.
The investigation into Deshawn's disappearance has involved multiple agencies and public appeals for information. The Hampton County Sheriff's Office has been the primary investigating agency, and the case has been featured on programs such as 'On Patrol: Live' to bring national attention to his story. Investigators have focused their search efforts on areas where Deshawn was known to have friends and acquaintances, such as the nearby town of Estill. Despite these efforts, few concrete details about his case have been made public. The lack of significant breakthroughs has left his family and community in a state of prolonged distress. The case of Deshawn Tyrell Burns Jr. is a somber reminder of the anguish that accompanies the disappearance of a loved one. The narrative of his case is one of an abrupt and alarming departure, followed by a frustrating and so far fruitless search for answers, leaving a family to grapple with the unknown.Last Seen: Feb 24, 2020
