Jackson police are searching for a suspect in what they believe was a homicide of a woman from Starkville last week.
Sgt. Roderick Holmes, with Jackson Police Department, said the department found the body of 30-year-old Traci Nichole Clarke in Hanging Moss Creek after receiving a call at around 7 a.m. on April 16. He said the body was located near the Woodway Drive-Manhattan Road intersection.
“There was a passerby traveling in the area,” Holmes said. “He was crossing a bridge and looked over and could see the body in the creek from where he was.”
Holmes said police could tell the body had “definitely” been in the creek for more than 24 hours by the time it was located, and are awaiting autopsy results for more information into the body’s condition.
Clark’s body appeared to have some sort of trauma to the head, Holmes said, which is why investigators are treating the case as a homicide.
“It appeared to possibly be blunt force trauma,” Holmes said. “From what we observed that did, there didn’t appear to be gunshot wounds or stab wounds to any other parts of the body.”
Clarke, according to her obituary, was a “former resident” of Starkville. It’s unclear whether she was living in Jackson at the time of her death, and Holmes said JPD isn’t certain how long she had been in the area. Clarke’s funeral was held on Saturday.
For now, Holmes said, JPD is continuing to investigate the case. However, he said the department doesn’t currently have any suspect information at the moment.
“We don’t know what the motive could have been,” he said. “We just don’t know right now.”
Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to call JPD at 601-960-1234 or Crimestoppers at 601-355-8477.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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