FBI investigating missing Black man hanging from tree in Mississippi

The FBI has launched a preliminary investigation into the death of a missing Black man found hanging from a tree in Clairborne, Mississippi.

Local law enforcement officials found the Otis Byrd’s body in the woods near his home, the FBI said. The officials were conducting a search for the man who had been missing since early this month.

The county sheriff said the body was hanging from a bed sheet.

It is not yet known whether the man was killed or took his own life.

FBI To Investigate Missing Black Man Hanging From Tree

CNN Reports:
A law enforcement official says the man found hanging is believed to be 54-year-old Otis Byrd, who has been missing since earlier this month. According to the MS Department of Corrections, Byrd was convicted in 1980 for murdering a woman. He was paroled in 2006.

At this point there are two parallel investigations: one by local authorities into the death and one by the FBI into whether there may be any federal civil rights violations. The FBI has a forensics team on the scene in Mississippi in part because the bureau has responsibility for federal civil rights law.

The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi are also investigating the death, according to a spokeswoman for the Justice Department.

According to a statement from the FBI, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is also on the scene.

“Earlier in the day, the Claiborne County Sheriffs Department and the Mississippi 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 a half mile from his last known residence,” according to the FBI statement.

“The sheriff’s department contacted the MBI and FBI for forensic and investigative assistance. Investigators are currently processing the scene for evidence to determine the cause and manner of death​,” according to the FBI.