Black Man Found Hanging from Tree in Mississippi Dredging Up Memories of Lynchings Past

The body of a black man hanging from a tree has been found in Mississippi.

USA Today reports that both the FBI and a local law enforcement agencies are investigating the death of 54-year-old Otis Byrd.

Byrd was reported missing by a friend on March 2. The friend last saw Byrd the night of March 2 when he dropped Byrd off near his house after spending time at the Riverwalk Casino in the city of Vicksburg.

Byrd's body was found by employees of the Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries and Parks Department who had been conducting a search for Byrd. Byrd's body was found approximately a half mile from his last address.

Byrd had previously spent 25 years in prison for a murder he committed during a robbery. He was paroled in 2006.

Investigators are trying to determine if the death was a suicide or a lynching. Given the history of racial animus in Mississippi, many commentators and observers have already labeled the incident as a hate crime and lynching.

Byrd is the second hanging death of a black man in recent months. A North Carolina teen named Lennon Lacy was also discovered hanging from a tree not far from his home. That case also garnered national attention because of the brutal and confusing nature of the crime.