Still Missing: What Happened to Terry Wayne Jackson?

A man vanishes without a trace — until clues are discovered at a local cemetery. Nearly one year later, Terry Wayne Jackson is still missing.

• Name: Terry Wayne Jackson
• Last Seen: March 27, 2024
• Missing From: Parsons, TN
• Current Age: 43 (D.O.B. October 19, 1981)
• Height: 5’11”
• Weight: 165 lbs.
• Hair: Brown
• Eyes: Brown

“He is one of those people that if he was down to his last dollar, he would still hand that to someone and give the shirt off of his back.”
(Terry’s half-sister Samantha Higby)

TERRY GOES MISSING

Terry Wayne Jackson was reportedly last seen on March 27, 2024 at McDonald’s in Parsons, Tennessee. According to Captain Adam England with the Parsons Police Department, Terry was dropping off food (tacos) to his girlfriend, Monica Lambert, who was working at McDonald’s. According to family, security footage confirmed Terry was there that day. Captain England says that Terry allegedly told Monica that he loved her and would see her later.

Terry lived with Monica at her home in Parsons. Monica told police that after she got off of work, she returned home expecting to see Terry, but he was not there.

According to Monica, it was not unusual for Terry to leave and stay gone overnight. However, after days passed, Monica called 911 to report him missing. Parsons PD would end up taking over the case.

It’s unclear exactly when Monica reported Terry as missing. Captain England estimates that Parsons Police received the report around 5-7 days after Terry was last seen at McDonald’s, although mentions it may have been earlier.

Terry was reportedly last seen wearing a light blue hoodie, a blue T-shirt and blue jeans. According to family, investigators pulled records that revealed no usage of his debit card past the day the went missing.

EVIDENCE FOUND AT CEMETERY

In the days after Terry’s disappearance, the car Terry had been driving was found at Kelley Cemetery in Bath Springs, Tennessee — roughly 18 miles south of Parsons.

A comment from a woman on a Facebook page dedicated to the search for Terry claims that on April 4, 2024, she reported the car being at the cemetery, as it had been there for several days.

According to Captain England, the car was allegedly found with the ignition ripped out and the driver’s side window rolled down.

Captain England tells us that Terry does not have a license, but Monica would lend him the car to help him get around. Before police were able to conduct a thorough search of the car, Monica had regained possession of the vehicle, resulting in the spoliation of any possible evidence. There are unconfirmed reports that the car was sold soon after it was recovered from the cemetery. The exact date that police were made aware of the car being found at the cemetery is again unclear. Captain England did tell us that sometime after his car was found, an hours-long search of the cemetery and nearby areas took place. However, Captain England says this search revealed no further signs of Terry.

In the weeks after his disappearance, Terry’s half-sister, Samantha Higby, interviewed with WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News. Samantha told us that after she learned her brother was missing, she and family traveled to Tennessee from her home in Texas to help find answers.

Samantha Higby (L) / Misty Burrow (R)

Higby told us that she and her family began to search areas that her brother may have been, which led them to Kelley Cemetery. Located just over a quarter mile from the Tennessee River in southern Decatur County, the cemetery sits in a rural area surrounded by woods. Higby says that the cemetery holds no known significance to Terry, other than the car being discovered there.

📸: FindAGrave.com

During their search of the cemetery, Higby says her mother, Misty Burrow, discovered Terry’s car keys in a wooded area adjacent to the site. A Facebook post suggests this discovery was made on April 28, 2024 — just over a month after Terry was last seen.

“I first took a picture of it on the ground where I seen it, and then we picked it up with a Ziploc baggie and closed it up so it could retain any kind of evidence that may be on it, and we also marked the location of where it was found at,” Burrow told WBBJ in April 2024.

The keys were turned into the Parsons Police Department. Tennessee Missing and Unsolved reports that after the keys were found, a three-mile grid search was conducted in the area, and nearby property owners were asked to search their own property as an extra precaution.

According to Captain England, footage from a nearby game camera showed a man walking in the woods after Terry went missing, but a positive identification could not be made due to lack of light and quality.

A claim regarding a possible piece of evidence comes from the Facebook page dedicated to Terry’s search. A post made on August 9, 2024, states that “a person involved with Terry” went to the cemetery alone and discovered a pair of underwear. This allegedly came after a search of the area had already been conducted. According to the post, the item was not turned into police.

Another claim from the page on August 3, 2024 states that a security camera that had been mounted on Terry’s home door was taken down a day before he vanished — although it’s important to note this claim has not been confirmed to us by police.

THE SEARCH CONTINUES

While researching this case, we made several attempts to contact and interview Terry’s girlfriend, Monica. However, at the time of this report, we have not received a response.

On August 5, 2024, a close-up photo of a tattoo was uploaded to Monica’s Facebook page. The tattoo, which appears to be of dandelions and birds, includes the text: “I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart) 3-27-24.” (3/27/24 being the day that Terry was reportedly last seen.)

Terry’s family in Texas continues to be very active in his search, continuing to update the social media page and hoping to finding the truth.

We made contact with Terry’s sister Samantha in January 2025, and presented her with a few questions:

Can you describe how you felt when you learned Terry was missing?

It didn’t feel real at first, like it was some kind of joke. But once I started asking questions it slowly started sinking in, and I burst into tears, and that turned into a sense of urgency that I needed to start asking more questions in person and that I needed to get to Tennessee and make sure people knew he was going to be looked for. I won’t let anyone forget that someone is still looking for him and someone loves him. His family won’t stop until we find him.

What is it like to not have answers in your brother’s disappearance nearly a year later?

I think about Terry every day, and the people that love him think about him every single day. I have ears everywhere, and whatever I hear I communicate with Captain England, and is it painful that we haven’t found him yet or any answers yet. Of course. But I know that Captain England at Parsons Police Department hasn’t given up on Terry, and he knows I won’t give up on Terry. All we can do at this time is keep praying and keep trying every avenue we are given.

What would you say to someone who may know where Terry is?

I would just hope that you would even just anonymously tell us where he is. Give us the information on where to find him, so we can please return him to the ones that love him most. I miss my brother and our family misses him. We miss his smile and his laugh, and the way he would get a room cracking up. We just want him home.

Samantha also told us that Terry has other family still living in West Tennessee — none of whom have heard from Terry since the day he went missing.

We also caught up with Captain England, who has been the lead investigator on this case from the beginning. England told us that he’s never worked a case quite like this one. England says as Terry had reclusive tendencies and was not an active social media user, the search for leads has been complicated.

Captain England acknowledges that someone out there knows what happened to Terry — and that he would love to speak to them and provide the family with answers.

If you see Terry, have any information on his whereabouts, or have information that could assist the investigation, contact the Parsons Police Department at (731) 852-3911.