The FBI is investigating the death of a black man who was found Thursday hanging in a tree in rural Mississippi, officials confirmed.
The man, believed to be in his 50s, was found in a wooded area near his rural home in Claiborne County, according to law enforcement officials.
At this point, “We don’t know if it’s suicide or homicide,” said Jason Pack, supervisory special agent for the FBI in Mississippi.
He said the federal agency and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are on the scene in Claiborne County conducting a death investigation.
Earlier in the day, Pack said, the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks conducted a ground search for a man who had been missing since early March. Officers located a man hanging in the woods near Roddy Road, about half a mile from his last known residence.
“The man was last seen March 2, and his family filed a missing persons report with the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department March 8. Sheriff’s Department officials reported the man missing to MBI March 13,” Pack said.
The sheriff’s department contacted the MBI and FBI for forensics and investigative assistance.
Pack said investigators are processing the scene for evidence to determine the cause and manner of death.
The man had been missing since March 2, and the FBI and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are assisting with the investigation, Claiborne County Sheriff Marvin Lucas said.
Claiborne County is southwest of Jackson.
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