VIDEO: Walmart footage appears to show Javion Magee buying rope day before he was discovered dead in Vance County

HENDERSON, N.C. (WNCN) — The Vance County Sheriff’s Office has released surveillance video from a Henderson Walmart in connection with the investigation of the death of Javion Magee.

The video, which was released on Monday, appears to show Magee purchase rope at a self-checkout, leave the store, and drive-off in his pickup truck on Sept. 10.

Magee, 21, of Aurora, IL was found dead in Henderson the following day. The sheriff’s Office says Magee was found near the base of a tree in a seated position, with rope wrapped around his neck and the other end attached to a tree.

The area where Magee was found was “outside of a fenced-in area”, the sheriff’s office said. The location is near a tractor repair business and a Baptist church near the intersection of Vanco Mill and Martin Creek roads.

Since being discovered, Magee has been transported to the North Carolina Chief Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy to be performed. As of Monday, authorities have not given a cause of his death.

Magee’s family are pleading to know what happened to him. They have enlisted the help of national civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels and Lee Merritt, as well as North Carolina attorney Jason Keith to call for answers. The attorneys say Magee does not have a history of mental illness.

The sheriff’s office is calling the case a “death investigation”.

CBS 17 has reached out to Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame for more information and updates on the case and is waiting to hear back.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 252-738-2200.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.