Two Vicksburg men will face murder charges in the abduction and death of Sharen Wilson, 69, whose body was found in a wooded area by the abandoned Kuhn Memorial Hospital, 1422 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Police Chief Walter Armstrong said.

Akeem McCloud, 20, no address available, and his uncle, Rafael McCloud, 33, 513 Lynn St., were being held in the Warren County Jail while police continue their investigation of Wilson’s death. Although formal charges have not been filed, the jail booking docket had “murder” written by Rafael McCloud’s name.

“We’re going to charge them, we’re running down some alibis on Akeem McCloud right now,” Armstrong said. “There’s definitely going to be some charges against Rafael, and we’ll sort through the rest of it Wednesday as it relates to Akeem.”

Armstrong said the police department will be cautious releasing information so as to not violate pre-trial publicity laws.

“We’re going to be extremely cautious moving forward, we’re making sure we don’t violate any pre-trial publicity rules,” he said. “We got a list of things today from the district attorney’s office and we want to be very cautious moving forward, especially after tomorrow, when they are charged.” Armstrong said Tuesday.

It does not appear the victim knew her attackers and it is unclear how they chose Wilson.

“The McClouds did not know her; they may have had a casual conversation, but outside that, they did not know her,” Armstrong said.

The autopsy has been completed and police are awaiting the results of other tests.

“The autopsy is done and we’re waiting for other tests to come back,” Armstrong said. “Rape kits and others tests take a little more time, so we’re waiting on those.”

Rafael McCloud was convicted of auto burglary in 2002, grand larceny in 2003 and armed robbery in 2005, according to court records. He received a suspended sentence on the grand larceny charge and was sentenced to 10 years on the robbery with four years to serve and five years’ probation. Akeem McCloud had no previous record with the DA’s Office.

Armstrong said Rafael McCloud’s directions took officers on a circuitous course through Sharkey County that brought them to within miles of Greenville, when they learned Wilson’s body had been found.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. has ordered extra police patrols in the Drummond Street and Kuhn property area on Martin Luther King.

The McClouds were detained by Leland police after officers found a handgun reported stolen in an earlier Vicksburg burglary, Vicksburg police Capt. Sandra Williams said. She added a check of the car’s registration came back as Wilson’s.

After learning the car was Wilson’s, Armstrong said, Leland police called Vicksburg and asked for an officer to go to the house and see if anyone was home. An officer went by the house, knocked on the door, but no one answered.

Later, he said, a friend received a call from Mrs. Wilson’s family in Hammond, La., who were concerned because they had been unable to contact Mrs. Wilson, who was supposed to go to Hammond to see them.

“They asked her to go over and she if she could make contact with her,” Armstrong said. “She was able to enter the house through the back door, and goes inside and learned the house had been ransacked. We now realized we had a missing person and we had the name of the missing person.”

Officers returned to Wilson’s house on Drummond Street about 12:30 p.m., Williams said.

Armstrong said investigators and a crime scene team went to Leland to meet with authorities there, and talked to Rafael McCloud, who said he would take them to where he and his nephew dropped Wilson off.

Armstrong said McCloud took the officers on a search route that put them within 6 miles of Greenville when they learned Wilson’s body had been found by ghost hunters on the Kuhn Hospital property.

He said Wilson’s friend later identified the body.