The body of a black man who had been missing for about three weeks was found Thursday hanging from a tree in Mississippi.
The man, identified by the Claiborne County branch of the NAACP as Otis James Byrd, 54, was found about a
half mile from his last known residence, Mississippi News Now reported.
Byrd disappeared March 2 and family members reported him missing March 8. He was last seen when a friend dropped him off at Vicksburg's Riverwalk Casino, News Now said.
It is unclear whether the death was a suicide or murder.
The FBI is investigating a possible civil rights violation while
local authorities investigate the death, CNN said. The Department of Justice also is investigating the case.
Byrd was convicted in 1980 for murdering a woman and paroled in 2006.
The body was found tied in a bed sheet, WJTV reported. His hands were not tied behind his back.
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