CLAIBORNE COUNTY, Miss. – It was confirmed Friday that the man found hanging on a tree by a bed sheet in the woods of Claiborne County is Otis James Byrd.
“And we will expect, next week sometime to find a preliminary report as to the cause of death,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Don Alway at a Friday afternoon press conference.
Byrd, 54, had been missing for nearly two weeks before his body was found in Port Gipson Thursday by Mississippi Wildlife agents.
Alway would not say whether authorities believed Byrd committed suicide or was murdered. “Everybody wants answers and they want those quickly. And we understand that,” he said. “Everybody has heard rumors, including myself, as to who may be behind this and why. Uh, we are gonna hold off on coming to any conclusions until the facts take us to a definitive answer that we are all seeking.”
It was the state crime lab that figured out it was Byrd who was discovered lifeless under the tree.
