Jimmie “Jay” Lee was last seen just before 6a.m. on July 8 as he left the Campus Walk Apartments in Oxford, Mississippi.
Three days later, Lee’s vehicle was found at a local towing company after it was removed from the Molly Barr Trails Apartment complex, where he was believed to be visiting someone, according to Oxford, Mississippi, police.
Lee was last seen wearing a silver housecoat, a gold sleeping cap and gray slippers and was driving a 2014 black Ford Fusion with Mississippi license plate “JAYLEE1,” university police wrote in a missing person alert, as reported by the News & Observer. Friends said he hasn’t been heard from since.
Though they are without answers, Lee’s family, meanwhile, desperately searches on without success to date. Lee’s father spoke out in a Facebook video on July 13 imploring anyone with new information to reach out to authorities.
“I’m asking that if anyone knows anything, or sees anything, say something,” Lee’s father, Jimmie Lee Sr., said.
“We’re just holding in strength with faith the size of a mustard seed. That’s all we’re holding onto — that faith in that strength and staying strong. Not only for ourselves, but we’re staying strong for Jay Lee,” Lee’s sister, Tayla Carey, told Meridian, Mississippi ABC affiliate WTOK.
Lee is described as an open, confident person who often wore feminine clothes, known for promoting “self love and living your truth,” according to the Daily Mississippian. As a social work major, Lee wanted to push the university to be more diverse and inclusive.
As gaps in the timeline remain along with several days passing since authorities have offered new search details, the family holds onto hope. According to Mississippi Today, Lee’s family have posted a $5,000 reward on red and white posters throughout the city. Carey and Lee’s parents also spent seven hours in the woods, walking on and off the paths and leaving posters at trail markers.
The search for Jimmy “Jay” Lee is ongoing.