OWEN COUNTY, Ind. — Detectives are continuing to investigate how a Bloomington man wound up dead along the side of a country road near the Owen-Monroe county line.
The body of 23-year-old Malik Sims was found on Monday afternoon along Stephenson Road after someone driving by saw it and called 911.
Currently, sheriff’s deputies are only calling it a death investigation but his family believes he was murdered and his body discarded there.
Sims’ family said the first sign of trouble was when he didn’t return home on Sunday night and nobody could reach him. His roommate was able to ping his phone to that rural, gravel road.
“He went to the location and when he got there, it was police there and yellow tape,” Sims’ mother Kelley Williams said. “Identifying marks identified that it was my baby.”
Some friends and family told FOX 59 that Sims was shot and left in that area to die.
However, Sims’ official cause of death is still pending an autopsy which is scheduled for Thursday. Owen County Coroner Shelby Hershberger said it could take a few weeks for toxicology results to come back.
Williams said her son was compassionate and kind and always looking out for his family members. That includes his younger sister who spent time battling cancer.
“The whole time that she was going through treatments he was right here,” Williams said through tears. “He was the kind of person that did anything to make people happy.”
Since his death, she has seen numerous posts on social media and received a number of messages about the impact her son had on so many. She said that is what has made his death much more puzzling to those who knew him.
“I can’t believe that whatever happened to him happened,” William said. “Somebody left him laying out there you know and it sucks. It sucks that he was taken away.”
While they wait for answers to their numerous questions, Sims’ family and friends are pleading for anyone who knows anything to come forward.
“The fact that he was taken and he was so good — it hurts,” Williams said. “Talk, just talk. Say something.”
Anyone who has information on Sims’ case is asked to contact Sergeant Detective Nathan Martin at 812-829-5757.
