Mississippi Mayoral Candidate Dead; Police Suspect Homicide

A Mississippi mayoral candidate was found dead Wednesday. Police are investigating the case as homicide.

The body of 34-year-old Marco McMillian, the first gay candidate for mayor of Clarksdale, was found by the Mississippi River levee, some 30 miles away from where his car crashed around 10 a.m.

Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith said the body was sent to Jackson for an autopsy. But he did not provide any other details on the cause of death. The sheriff's office responded to a two-car crash on U.S. Highway 49 South near the Coahoma and Tallahatchie county lines on Tuesday about 8 a.m., reported the Seattle Pi

On its Facebook page, the sheriff's office informed that the person of interest was taken in custody, but he was not formally charged.

Reuters reported McMillian had been missing since early Tuesday when his car crashed outside Clarksdale. The person driving McMillian's vehicle collided head on with a pickup truck. McMillian wasn't with the driver and, because his whereabouts were unknown, law enforcement officials launched a search.

McMillian, a Democrat, was a graduate from Jackson State University and attained a master's degree in Philanthropy and Development from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.

Reuters reported that campaign spokesman Jarod Keith said McMillian's campaign focused on reducing crime and unemployment in Clarksdale, a city of roughly 18,000 people.

"We remember Marco as a bold and passionate public servant, whose faith informed every aspect of his life," Keith said in a statement. "Tragically that life has been cut short."

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