Authorities compare shooting deaths
Panola County Sheriff Dennis Darby said early Friday morning that investigators from his department would be working with Mississippi Highway Patrol investigators as well as Tunica County authorities to see if a death in that county is possibly related to a similar death that occurred on I-55 near the Pope-Courtland exit.
Memphis news reported that a woman’s body was found lying on the side of Highway 173 just after 2 a.m. by a passerby in Tunica County.
Officials say the woman had been shot in the head and the Mississippi Highway Patrol is investigating the woman’s death as a homicide.
The incident is similar to the mysterious shooting death of a Nebraska man on Interstate 55 early Tuesday morning.
Thomas Schlender was driving from Nebraska to Florida before his truck was found in the center lane divider.
Authorities said at least five shots were fired with casings found near the site.
The same caliber casing was also found at the Tunica crime scene and both victims suffered head wounds Darby said.