PIGGOTT -- Authorities will send the body of a man found in a ditch in western Clay County on Thursday to the state Crime Laboratory to determine the cause of death, Clay County Sheriff Terry Miller said.
Farmers found the body while checking a field south of McDougal near the Hickoria community on Clay County Road 256 on Thursday afternoon, Miller said.
The unidentified man was facedown in a water-filled ditch about 400 yards from the county road, the sheriff said.
"Deputies didn't see any evident signs of [trauma]," Miller said.
He said he wasn't sure how long the body was in the ditch.
The remains were taken to Piggott and will be sent to the Crime Laboratory. The Arkansas State Police is assisting in the investigation, Miller said.
State Desk on 03/20/2015