SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) has identified the female skeletal remains discovered in 2007 as a 39-year-old mother who was never reported missing.
In November of 2022, SCSO began working with DNA Labs International Inc. and new DNA technology retracting calcium from the bones of identified family members and then leading them to the woman now identified as Jeana Lynn Burrus, according to SCSO.
Burrus' remains were discovered buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area of Ashton Court in Sarasota in February of 2007. The case remained cold because no one had reported Burrus missing.
Burrus lived in the 6200 block of Pauline Avenue in Sarasota with her husband, James Burrus, and their young son, James Burrus Jr. Her husband was employed at a local body shop in the 5600 block of Sarah Avenue in Sarasota, and her son attended Gulf Gate Elementary School between 2005-06. She was unemployed.
In a press conference Thursday, Lt. Mark Lefebvre with SCSO said Burrus suffered from depression and lost touch with family members who live in Maryland, so they did not know she was missing.
Lt. Lefebvre said the husband is their only person of interest now.
"He had different versions honestly of what happened to the relationship, but when he sat with detectives, he provided no details, he gave no information, he really didn't have any answers to anything," Lefebvre said.
ABC Action News did some digging and found that her husband worked at the auto body shop off Sarah Avenue, now called Calloway European Automotive Inc., which was sold to a new owner. Burrus' body was found in the woods directly behind the shop.
"She was found buried in a shallow grave, to where her bones were still exposed. She was dressed in a shirt, in a skirt, no shoes or anything like that to indicate that she did not walk into those woods on her own. You’ve got to imagine, the body was there for a year to a year and a half, so there was extensive decomposition," Lefebvre explained. "The bones indicate that it was not a natural cause of death, there was indications, some fracturing, things of that nature."
He said they also interviewed her son, who is now 20 years old.
"James Jr. was always told that he was abandoned by his mother; in this case, he’s learning new information," Lefebvre said.
SCSO said the couple had previously lived in Citrus County and Frederick, Maryland before they moved to Sarasota County.
"They had a very volatile marriage back then; things were very financially difficult, and they struggled to raise their children and hold jobs here," said Lefebvre.
We also found Maryland court records that show James Burrus filed for divorce from Jeana in 2015, but the documents mailed to her at the couple's 2002-2004 address in Citrus County were undeliverable.
The family who now lives in the home on Pauline Avenue told ABC Action News that police came and searched the house for evidence a few months ago. The family does not believe they found anything.
"A whole crew came out to test the scientific aspect of the police department to see if there was any blood or anything left," resident Patricia Kennedy said, "But whatever happened, happened so many years ago."
Kennedy adds that the most important thing people learn from this is that police don't give up on cold cases.
"There's no case that cannot be looked at that's abandoned," she said. "People need to know the police are still doing their job."
The SCSO is asking anyone who may have known either Jeana or James Burrus or has information regarding her death to contact SCSO Detective Brian Ng at 941-861-4900.
