Two men who found an abandoned vehicle with a 'free car' sign on it and the keys inside discovered a dead body in the boot.
After finding the car the two men drove it from Byram to Copiah County in Mississippi and looked in the boot when they arrived at a family member's home and called police, Wave3 reports.
Inside they found the body of 34-year-old Anthony Mccrillis - who had been in there for 'several days' and was naked, according to Coroner Ellis Stuart.
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Byram Police Chief David Errington said: "He was identified through his tattoos and confirmed through his immediate family of his identity."
Copiah County Sheriff Byron Swilley told Newsweek the two men are being interviewed while police look into whether they took the vehicle for a joyride.
He said: "We haven't been able to confirm whether it was a 'free car' and we will look into whether that sign was in place."
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Errington said the victim's vehicle had been seen in Byram, Copiah County and Jackson across the last few days and it has not yet been determined where the original crime took place.
The vehicle had previously been spotted by Dan Peacock, the manager of a junkyard Starz Auto Sales, who said he saw the car several times on Saturday but on Sunday it was gone.
He he told Wave3: "[I] never stopped and looked or anything, but I knew it was kind of unusual.
"I figured somebody was driving down here to sell it. We buy a bunch of cars. I figured somebody was driving down to sell it, and it quit on them or something. Just never dawned on me that something like that went on.
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"I wish I would have looked into it further.
"I might've been able to help them a little bit further with it, but I just never stopped and looked at it.
"If I had stopped and looked at it, I would've probably tripped. I would've probably flipped out if I had stopped and seen something like that."
Errington said Mccrillis was seen alive just days ago.
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He told the news outlet: "We do know that our victim was alive at 9 PM on Friday night.
"He was seen on a home surveillance video."
Errington has said Mccrillis' body has no sign obvious signs of trauma and that cops will now get the victim's car to search for evidence.
An autopsy will be carried out to establish a cause of death.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy