Missing
James Patrick Burrows
Burrows, approximately 1990
Date and time person was reported missing : 08/23/1990
Missing location (approx) :
Calhoun County, Alabama
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 07/30/1966 (55)
Age at the time of disappearance: 24 years old
Height / Weight : 5'11, 135 - 155 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A black t-shirt and camouflAge at the time of disappearance: -print pants.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian male. Brown hair, green eyes. Burrows may have long hair and a full beard. His nickname is Pat.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Burrows was last seen driving a Honda 250 motorcycle on Alabama 21 near the Midway community in Calhoun County, Alabama on August 23, 1990. He left home at 8:00 a.m. and has never been heard from again. Over a year later, his motorcycle was later found submerged in a bog within 300 yards of an abandoned brickyard, three miles south of Piedmont, Alabama.
In 1991, David Ronald Chandler was convicted of drug trafficking and ordering Burrows's death. He was also convicted of having a role in several other killings, including the death of Jeffery McFry, who disappeared less than two weeks after Burrows did.
Chandler was a marijuana dealer and Burrows and McFry were also involved in the drug trade; investigators theorized that Chandler had murdered two men murdered because he believed they had stolen marijuana from him.
Chandler was sentenced to death. After his conviction, however, the man who said Chandler had paid him to murder McFry recanted his testimony, and several other witnesses in the case also claimed they had lied. In 2001, Chandler's death sentence was commuted to life in prison. He is presently incarcerated in Hazelton, West Virginia.
Another man, Jimmy Steed, is considered a suspect in Burrows and McFry's presumed murders and in the 1997 disappearance of his wife, Karen Steed, who has never been found. In December 2014, Jimmy pleaded guilty to the murder of another woman and was sentenced to 105 years in prison. He hasn't been charged in connection with any other disappearances or deaths.
Burrows, Steed and McFry's remains have never been found, but foul play is suspected in their disappearances due to the circumstances involved.
Other information and links : ncy
Calhoun County Sheriff's Office
256-236-6600
September 2021 updates and sources
Calhoun County Sheriff's Office
The Anniston Star
The Doe Network
Unsolved in the News
October 12, 2004. March 6, 2015; Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
