Badly decomposed body found in wooded area near Natchez High School

NATCHEZ — The badly decomposed body of a man was found off of Sergeant S. Prentiss Drive on Wednesday afternoon, about 30 yards into the woods north of Natchez High School.

Adams County Coroner James Lee said the body was pronounced dead at 2:10 p.m. Wednesday.

“The remains were in horrible condition and will be sent to the Mississippi State Crime Lab to an anthropologist for identification and to the State Medical Examiner for autopsy,” Lee said.

Natchez Police Commander Jerry Ford said a man going through the woods discovered the body.

“We don’t know a whole lot about it at this time. A guy that happened to be going off in there said he saw the body and reported it,” Ford said. “Actually, he said he saw it before and told someone to report it to the police, but they did not do that. He saw it again today, and I don’t know if he called the police department or if he flagged down an officer in a police vehicle.”

Ford said it looked like the man had been living in the wooded area.

“There were clothes and looked like other items he had been using to cook with,” he said. “We are questioning the guy who found the body and hope he can shed some other light about how long the body has been in the woods.”

Ford also hopes the medical examiner can determine if foul play was involved in the man’s death and will be able to help in getting him identified.

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