Bart Daniels bio

Bart Daniels was born in Jackson, Mississippi, on April 4, 1971. His father, Murray, was a state legislator, and his mother, Maureen, cared for Bart and his older brother, Larry, at home.

The Daniels family was prosperous and well-respected in Jackson. Bart and Larry were given the finest education, attending Jackson Preparatory School, where they both excelled in athletics.

During high school, Bart was a star on the school baseball team and hoped to win a scholarship to play for the University of Mississippi team. A wrist injury hindered his chances during tryouts, and he did not make the team.

Another tragedy struck during Bart's high school years. His girlfriend, to whom he had recently become engaged, was killed in a car accident in 1991.

At the height of his son's misery, Murray convinced Bart to leave Jackson and study law. In the fall of 1992, Bart Daniels enrolled at the University of Mississippi and soon met Bonnie Jenks, a local beauty whose family had been in Oxford for several generations.

While both were still in school, Bart and Bonnie married in 1994. Bart and Bonnie had their first daughter, Laurie, in 1998. Their second daughter, Melanie, was born the following year, and by this time, Bart owned a successful law practice in town.

After years of building a solid reputation and bank account in Oxford, things began to go sour for Bart Daniels in the mid-2010s. He started losing friends because of his temper and increasingly boorish personality. His friends did not desert him, however, as he was diagnosed with lung cancer in late 2016. Only a few months earlier, his younger daughter, Melanie, had left home at the age of 17.

Not long after Bart's diagnosis, his older daughter, Laurie, left home, but it didn't slow his progress toward recovery. By the following year, it appeared as though his cancer had gone into remission. He returned to his law business, though many of his friends thought he was ungrateful and distanced themselves. In May of last year, Bart's cancer returned.

Recently, sheriff's detectives have been asking questions about Laurie, who'd been away from Oxford for seven years. Bart hasn't spoken to his daughter Melanie in eight years.