A Mississippi sheriff said Friday that a black man found hanging from a tree did not appear to have stepped off of anything before he died and that he had last been seen on camera leaving a casino . The man 's identity has been confirmed as that of Otis Byrd , a 54-year-old ex-convict who lived just about 200 yards from the tree and had been declared missing by his family about two weeks ago . Claiborne County Sheriff Marvin Lucas Sr. , who knew Byrd as he had to check in with the sheriff 's department as a condition of his parole in 2006 after serving 26 years in prison for the murder of a woman during a robbery in 1980 , also confirmed his identity earlier this week . Scroll down for video . What happened ? Otis James Byrd , 54 ( above ) , was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi after he was reported missing March 2 . Claiborne County officials prepare to leave a home in Port Gibson , Miss. , where authorities were investigating the hanging death of Byrd . Lucas said that the body was found Thursday hanging by a bed sheet from a tree limb about 12 feet high , and that the man 's feet were dangling about two feet off the ground . The hands on the body were not bound , he said . The results of an autopsy by the Mississippi Crime Lab to determine whether the death was homicide or suicide could take days , Lucas said . The hanging is being investigated by the FBI , the Justice Department 's Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney 's office as well as the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation . The feds are there to determine if it 's a potential hate crime or other violation of federal law , U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday . 'We simply do n't know enough facts , ' Holder told MSNBC . 'We do have a substantial federal presence to determine what the facts are . ' Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said Friday that after local authorities asked his department to check on a report that Byrd had been at a casino , video surveillance was recovered showing Byrd at the Riverwalk Casino on March 2 . 'We did n't see anything of significance on the tape . He was just walking around the casino . We did not see him after that , ' Armstrong said . The body was found by state wildlife officers and had obvious sign '' of decomposition , suggesting that it had been hanging in the woods for some time , said Jim Walker , a , a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife , Fisheries and Parks . The owner of the land , 87-year-old Johnie Baker , said that the area where Byrd 's body was found is covered in pecan and black walnut trees . He added that hunters sometimes hunt in the area and that there are also wild boars on the land . Spotted : The last time Byrd was seen he was leaving a casino 30 miles north on March 2 . So far , authorities say it 's too early to determine whether the victim 's death was a homicide or a suicide . However , the NAACP is petitioning to have the U.S. Department of Justice involved in the investigation , fearing Byrd 's death may have been a hate crime . The Claiborne County Sheriff 's Department and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are also involved in the investigation . Lynching was a common form of 'mob justice ' in the late 19th century , particularly in the south . A report by the Equal Justice Initiative claims there were nearly 4,000 lynchings of African Americans in the Jim Crow era across 12 states of the US . Byrd spent 25 years in prison for the murder of Lucille Trim , the Clarion-Ledger reported according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections . He allegedly robbed Trimm of $ 101 and then killed her . He was convicted of capital murder in February 1980 and then was paroled in November 2006 . Trim is the mother of Martha Ranville , who was the first woman in the history of the National Guard to serve as State Adjuntant General . She became the Adjutant General in Vermony in 1997 and currently lives in Virginia with her husband , the Hon . Paul McHale . McHale is a former Pennsylvania congressman and assistant secretary of defense . Read more : http : //www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3003350/Black-man-54-hanging-tree-Mississippi-NAACP-asking-death-investigated-possible-hate-crime.html # ixzz3Ux8OJdHB Follow us : @ MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook .
Body of African-American man found hanging from tree in Port Gibson , Mississippi , Thursday morning is confirmed to be that of Otis Byrd . Death has similarities to a lynching and his body had been decaying for some time according to authorities . Authorities say they are not sure yet whether death was a homicide or suicide and will know next week . four official has reported he believes that the death will ultimately prove to be a suicide based on early findings . The last time Byrd was seen was on camera leaving a casino in Vicksburg , Mississippi about 30 miles north . He spent 25 years in prison for the murder of Lucille Trim , a white woman who he shot One times during an armed robbery .