Police: Slain Jacksonville couple was buried alive

<p>A Jacksonville couple whose bodies were found in a shallow grave in southern Georgia were buried alive, police said Thursday.</p><p>Ken Jefferson, a spokesman for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, said the official cause of the deaths of Carol and James "Reggie" Sumner, both 61, was mechanical asphyxiation, an action which stops a person from breathing normally.</p><p>"In essence, it means they were buried alive," Jefferson said.</p><p>Asphyxia means the body can't receive enough oxygen and the mechanical component means there was pressure applied to the chest.</p><p>"It was result of the sand being on them," Jefferson said.</p><p>Their bodies were found in a shallow grave Saturday morning, eight days after they were last seen. Officials have not released any details on the condition of the bodies, including whether they were bound.</p><p>Bruce K. Nixon Jr., 18, of Macclenny, is being held without bond in the Duval County Jail since last Friday on charges of murder, kidnapping and robbery.</p><p>Three persons arrested in South Carolina on financial fraud also face murder charges in Jacksonville. Jefferson said authorities are seeking their extradition to Jacksonville. They are Tiffany Cole, 23, Michael J. Jackson, 23, and Allen Wade, 18. They were being held in the Charleston County Jail. The three have yet to be assigned a judge in Charleston, so they don't have an arraignment date yet, said Jeff Siler, case manager at the Charleston County Solicitor's Office.</p><p>There was no information immediately available on whether the four have lawyers.</p><p>State Attorney Harry Shorstein said it has not determined whether the four will be tried in Jacksonville or in Georgia, where the slayings occurred.</p><p>Those arrested in South Carolina are accused of using the Sumners' ATM card several days after the couple was reported missing from their Jacksonville home July 10 by family members worried because they had been out of contact for two days.</p><p>The Sumners lived down the street from Cole in Ladson, S.C., until they moved to Jacksonville in February. Family members also said Cole had purchased a green Chevrolet Lumina from the Sumners. It was located near the Best Western Hotel in Ladson, where Cole, Jackson and Wade were arrested.</p>

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