WESSON — After a long month of waiting, authorities confirmed the charred remains found in a Wesson house fire to be those of a Natchez native Joey Washington.

Copiah County Coroner Richard Akin said the body found in a Feb. 22 house fire is that of Joey Washington, a 40-year-old man from Natchez.

Akin said he sent the remains to the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy and identification in early March.

Although the DNA records confirm the body to be a blood relative of Floyd Washington, who is Washington’s father, Akin said medical examiners have not yet determined cause of death.

“I’m waiting for the medical examiner in Jackson to issue that,” Akin said. “He was burned beyond recognition.”

The Copiah County Undersheriff Derrick Cubit said the investigation is still ongoing, and that no other information regarding the death is available at this time.

Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Ricky Davis also said their investigation is ongoing, and that State Fire Marshal Policy prevents him from commenting on the case.

Washington had been missing since his father’s house burned down, said Deedra Madison, Washington’s aunt.

“All we know is that the remains are my nephew,” Madison said. “They are my Joey.”

Washington’s father found his son’s body more than two weeks after the initial fire.

The blaze, Madison said, reduced the remains to bones.

“I knew,” she said. “I knew as soon as I heard he was missing and that his daddy’s house had caught fire that he was in there.”

Madison waited just over a month for her suspicions to be confirmed.

“On Tuesday, the funeral home called my sister and she told me that it was Joey,” she said.

Madison said Washington had lived with her from time to time, and that she was very close to her nephew.

Washington grew up in Natchez and Hazelhurst, attending elementary and high school in both cities.

As an adult, Madison said Washington was a carpenter. He could install floors and carpet and, she said, he could fix just about anything.

“I think he knew a little bit of everything,” she said. “He has always been in my life.”

Madison said funeral arrangements have not yet been made for her nephew.

“He was a hardworking man, and he loved his family,” Madison said. “He didn’t deserve to die this way. Nobody deserves to die like this.”