Alcohol may have played role in death

By Vershal Hogan (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Wednesday, April 30, 2008

NATCHEZ — Toxicology reports indicated alcohol may have played a role in the death of the unidentified woman pulled from the Mississippi River earlier this month.

“The forensic toxicology report revealed the woman had a blood level alcohol level of .036,” Adams County Coroner James Lee said. “That’s approximately four times the legal limit in most states.”

The woman was found by a boater approximately one mile inland in the Carthage Point Road area, which has been flooded since late March, on April 19.

At the time she was found, the woman, likely a black female in her 30s or 40s, was in such a state of extreme decomposition that authorities could not even determine what race she was.

The woman has a scar that is likely the result of the removal of a gall bladder or appendix, and the cause of death was consistant with drowning, Lee said.

Authorities have tentatively identified the body through fingerprints, but that has not yet been confirmed, Lee said.

“I think we will eventually find out who she is and the case will eventually close,” Lee said.