Police scene
© Suzanne Feliciano/The Vichsburg Post
Okay, I've been waiting for a week for some followup or conclusion to this, but it doesn't seem to be forthcoming. Therefore, I'll post on the story of this mysterious carcass and see if this is the week we can hear more. Or see more.

Last Monday, February 16, 2009, an unidentified body was found in the Big Black River near U.S. 80, outside of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

It was believed to be human (in conjunction with the search for a missing man). But then, as the autopsy on the body began on February 17th, it was determined it was not human. The Vicksburg Post reported it was an "unidentified animal."

The finding was announced by the Mississippi State Crime Lab in Jackson, but they didn't mention what kind of animal it was.

"It is not human," Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said. "I repeat, it is not human."

Police scene
© Suzanne Feliciano/The Vichsburg Post
Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey, standing in for the Hinds coroner, had said immediately on February 16th that he could identify nothing from the remains.

The body was found by a father and son looking through scopes on rifles on U.S. 80 just east of Warren-Hinds county line at about 3 pm on the afternoon of February 16.

During the body's recovery, "as many as 20 law enforcement officials were staged on a concrete bridge over Big Black backwater as the remains were taken from the water about 75 yards from the bridge and brought to land," said The Vicksburg Post.

On the 17th of February, Jackson, Mississippi's Clarion-Ledger noted that Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin confirmed also that state Crime Lab tests showed a body found on February 16th, in the Big Black River was "an animal but not a human."

There has been no followup article in any media, which, of course, has lead to wild speculation. One comment maker to the Vicksburg paper, who identifies herself or himself as "RangerB" even wrote: "The mystery animal you all wait for, is simply a badly decomposed black bear. NOT A BIGFOOT. Take a deep breath people."

Of course, without official word from the authorities and it being passed along in the media, such a comment has to be labeled as merely speculation itself.

If I hear of any further information released on what species has been linked to the body, I'll update this posting.

No closeup photos have surfaced of the carcass. Where's Boing Boing, Smoking Gun, or TMZ when we really need them?