The search for answers in the death of a Port Gibson man whose body was found hanged from a tree continues more than a month after the body was found.

Otis Byrd was found hanging from a tree by a sheet behind his Port Gibson on March 19, and many are left wondering whether this death will be ruled a suicide or homicide.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Don Alway said the FBI is still waiting on some final results before they can move forward.

“We’ve got regular communication with the people in our laboratory,” he said. “We’re still waiting on some of the last tests to be performed.”

Alway stressed the FBI is keeping contact with Byrd’s family and the medical examiners office.

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jason Pack said previously the FBI investigation is complex.

“I think it’s also important to know that the autopsy is only one piece of information,” he said. “That’s why we’re waiting on these other test results to have the whole picture. I can’t get into specifics, but it’s items they recovered in the investigation, just to see what they say.”

Claiborne County Sherriff Marvin Lucas confirmed the investigation has been stalled while waiting on test results.

“We’re just waiting on results to come from Virginia,” he said. “Nothing else is going on.”

A press conference was held April 8 by Jackson-based law firm Sweet and Associates who announced the family had hired them because they had not been given adequate information and they wanted an additional investigation.

Attorney Dennis Sweet IV said the firm is still in the process of collecting information.

“We’re in the process of establishing an estate so we can subpoena documents. “We’re planning to work with the agencies that will work with us.”

Sweet said the FBI has still not released an autopsy to the firm.

“We’re hoping there’s one soon because the family wants answers soon, but we do understand these things take time,” he said.

In the meantime the firm has sought out the help of physician and forensic pathologist Michael Baden.

Baden is the former Chief Medical Examiner of New York City and former chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police. He has investigated more than 3,000 homicides, suicides and drug-related deaths, and he is most famously known for his testimony in the O.J. Simpson trial and his work on the John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations.

Baden confirmed he has been in touch with Sweet and Associates.

“I’ve spoken to the attorneys, but it’s too early to have a comment,” he said.

Baden said he does not have a timeline for the completion of his investigation because he is still waiting on the family’s attorneys to gather information.

“It all depends on the attorneys and how fast they get information over to me,” he said.

A member of the family said they are still waiting for more information, both from the FBI’s investigation and their own.