Kemper sheriff: No new information on death

By By William F. West / community editor
Jan. 14, 2003
DEKALB Kemper County Sheriff Sam Tisdale said Monday he is still awaiting autopsy results in the death of a Porterville man found hanged from a tree and does not yet know whether foul play was involved.
The body of Nick Naylor, 23, was found Thursday by relatives on Hopewell Road about 11/2 miles from his home. Law enforcement officials said he was hanging from a tree with a dog chain around his neck.
Tisdale said the FBI and state authorities are assisting his department in an investigation, but he had little new information to offer.
Deborah Madden, spokesman for the FBI's Jackson division office, said today that the agency has been asked to monitor the situation and that the Kemper County Sheriff's Department and the Mississippi Highway Patrol are investigating.
Tisdale said speculation about whether the young man was lynched is unsubstantiated at this time.
The sheriff said no one has been arrested and no one is being held in connection with the death. He declined to say whether there are any suspects in the case.
Tisdale said he is waiting for an autopsy report from state pathologist Dr. Steven Hayne of Pearl.