MONTICELLO, Arkansas — Monticello is a hub for commerce, agriculture, and timber; but an unanswered still question plagues this small town— who killed Marquis Martin?
His mother Lakisha Williams, and his son Marquis Junior sat together in the living room to remember the times they had with him.
"Marquis was very outgoing. Very outgoing. I would say he had a heart of gold," said Williams.
Marquis Junior wears a necklace with a picture of him and his dad on the emblem and recounts the few memories he has with him.
Marquis was just 26 years old when he was killed. Now, it's three years later and his family is no closer to getting any closure.
At the beginning of 2020, Williams said she felt something was wrong.
"I just kept having anxiety attacks," she added.
A couple of weeks later she found out her son was missing, and the last place anyone saw him was at the USA Murphy's gas station in Monticello.
The security camera footage showed Marquis at the window buying something.
To make matters worse, Williams received a mysterious ransom text asking for money for her son's return.
"It was saying that he was hurt really bad [and] that I had to give them $7,000 dollars to get him and don't call the cops," Williams described.
She said she took the information to the police, but nothing ever came from it.
Marquis remained missing until a month later.
In March, Marquis was found dead in a creek in Wilmar. The cause of death was a gunshot to the head.
To this day, there's a memorial for Marquis in that spot. His name is painted across the rails of a bridge and a teddy bear sits in the grass.
"I know when I had my son. I know when my son was buried, but I don't know the date he died," said Williams.
Drew County Sheriff Tim Nichols was elected at the beginning of this year and said, "Even going back to 2020, I believe that the Arkansas State Police should have been the primary investigating agency at the time."
He moved quickly to try and revive the case with a new investigation, by requesting Arkansas State Police take over.
"Public trust is everything, and if there's any questions about how you stand then what are you doing? If there were some questions then let's bring it to light," said Sheriff Nichols.
Arkansas State Police denied the request, but Sheriff Nichols explained that they are assisting, alongside the FBI in hopes of finally getting answers.
"We are going to work with the best we can, with what we have, and if we can't we are going to request other agencies to help us if we can," he added.
Even though Marquis is gone, his life is not forgotten.
His son sees him in the little things that are around him— from the red birds outside to their love of Spiderman.
"He is always with me," said Marquis Junior.