Missing woman, stepfather found dead in south Nashville

A 31-year-old mentally challenged woman and her stepfather, both of whom were reported missing Thursday [1], were found dead Sunday morning in their car in a Walmart Neighborhood Market parking lot.

Police said there were no signs of foul play, but that autopsies will be performed on Monday.

Jamella Finnie and her 51-year-old stepfather Craig Townsend were found dead in Townsend’s Kia sedan in the parking lot at Edmondson Pike and Old Hickory Boulevard in south Nashville, police said.

Finnie was mentally challenged and suffered from hypoglycemia and seizures. She accompanied her mother, Gwenn Townsend, and Townsend’s husband, Craig, to the Wal-Mart store at 5824 Nolensville Pike on Wednesday afternoon.

Gwenn Townsend told police she went inside to shop, and when she returned, her husband and daughter were inexplicably gone. Gwenn Townsend reported her daughter, who required life-sustaining medication, as missing.

Police said surveillance video from the Walmart Neighborhood Market showed that the Kia pulled into the parking lot at 2:42 p.m. last Wednesday, within an hour after it left the Nolensville Pike store.

A market employee happened to notice the bodies just as a Tennessee State Trooper entered the parking lot to get a cup of coffee at the adjoining Starbucks. The employee flagged down the trooper, who notified Metro police.

Police said one of several possibilities is that Townsend suffered some type of medical event and Finnie was unable to get out of the car due to her health issues and diminished mental capacity.