PIGGOTT -- The results of a state Crime Laboratory autopsy show that the death of a man found in a rural field Thursday should not be treated as a homicide, Clay County Sheriff Terry Miller said Monday.
Two farmers found the body of Sean L. Hays, 53, of Corning in western Clay County on Thursday afternoon. Hays was face-down in a water-filled ditch about 400 yards from Clay County Road 256 south of McDougal.
Miller said he did not know how long Hays' body was in the ditch. He said farmers had not been to the field for several weeks.
Authorities sent the body to the Crime Lab in Little Rock on Friday. Miller said the man died of "natural causes," but he has also requested a toxicology test. He said that according to the laboratory, it would take four to five months before results would be available.
State Desk on 03/24/2015