FBI probes hanging death of black man in Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. — Authorities are investigating the hanging of black man in Claiborne County, officials said Thursday.

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jason Pack said the FBI and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are on the scene where a man's body was found hanging in the woods near Old Rodney Road.

Coroner J.W. Mallett would not release any details and simply said the death is under investigation.

The Claiborne County Sheriff's Department and the Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries and Parks were conducting a ground search earlier Thursday for Otis Byrd, 54, who has been missing since March 2.

Sheriff Marvin Lucas said that's when they found the body, hanging about a half-mile from Byrd's last known residence, at around 10:21 a.m. Thursday. He said that during the search for Byrd, they never ruled out that he could have met with foul play.

"We didn't close down any options because we really didn't know what had happened to him," Lucas said. "We can't rule anything out right now."

The Sheriff's Department contacted the FBI and MBI for forensic and investigative assistance, Pack said.

The last time Byrd was seen, a friend was dropping him off at the Riverwalk Casino in Vicksburg on March 2.

Byrd's family filed a missing person report with the Claiborne County Sheriff's Department on March 8, and MBI received a missing person report on March 13.

According to the Mississippi Department of Corrections, Byrd spent a little over 25 years in prison for the murder of Lucille Trimm during a robbery in Claiborne County. He was convicted of capital murder on Feb. 8, 1980, and was paroled Nov. 2, 2006.

Trim was the mother of Martha Rainville, the first woman in the history of the National Guard to serve as a state adjutant general when she became adjutant general in Vermont in 1997. Rainville lives in Virginia and is married to the Hon. Paul McHale, a former congressman from Pennsylvania and a former assistant secretary of Defense.

The NAACP was the first organization to release Byrd's identity. Authorities have not confirmed the victim's identity. The NAACP says it has written a letter asking the Department of Justice to get involved in the investigation.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is referring all calls to the FBI. The Mississippi Southern District of the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division are also assisting on the case.

Investigators are processing the scene to determine the cause and manner of death.

Apel also reports for The (Jackson, Miss.) The Clarion-Ledger