New details released after body found buried under tires in Hancock County buffer zone
Hancock County sheriff’s officials are asking for the public’s help to identify a body found Saturday by workers monitoring a controlled burn in NASA’s Stennis Space Center buffer zone.
The body was buried underneath tires dumped in the area, Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam confirmed to the Sun Herald.
The body, found north of Interstate 10 and west of Mississippi 607, had been there for some time and was ravaged by animals, Adam said. The wooded area is near Stennis Space Center’s south gate.
Workers contracted by the U.S. Forest Service reported the discovery to the sheriff’s department.
A medical examiner will conduct an autopsy and help determine the sex and identification of the body, Adam said.
“The individual appeared to be clothed in male items, however, sex and race has not been determined,” Chief Deputy Jeremy Skinner said in a press release.
The victim was wearing red or maroon colored shirt and light blue jeans and white Nike tennis shoes that are possibly Air Force Ones, Skinner said. The individual was also wearing a Louis Vuitton belt and a silver Louis Vuitton wristwatch.
The individual also “had internal hardware and screws surgically placed on the left cheekbone and orbital area,” Skinner said.
Adam said the case will likely turn into a homicide investigation due to the nature in which the body was found.
“Everything’s kind of on the table,” he said.
This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 9:59 AM.
