The Jackson Police Department is actively investigating a homicide after finding a Starkville woman’s body in a creek earlier this month.
On April 16, JPD found 30-year-old Traci Nichole Clarke dead in Hanging Moss Creek in north Jackson. Hanging Moss is located off of Wood Way Drive near Manhattan Road.
Sgt. Roderick Holmes of JPD said shortly before 7 a.m. officers responded to a call after a person riding on their bike discovered her body in the creek as they crossed the bridge.
When officers arrived at the scene, Holmes said officers examined the body and noticed there was visible trauma on the victim’s head.
Although there appeared to be noticeable trauma, Holmes said at the scene officers were not able to fully determine what the cause of death was.
“We since learned from the coroner that blunt force trauma was actually the cause of death,” Holmes said.
Holmes said JPD is still unsure if Clarke was a Jackson resident, but at this point, he doesn’t believe she was a resident of Jackson, because when attempting to get a positive identification, there was no information in their system.
“We don’t know how long she had been here or where she was living at the time or anything like that,” Holmes said.
As for leads, there are a couple JPD detectives currently working the investigation. He said at this point he is unsure if there is only one suspect or multiple.
“Those are more or less contacts, people she may have been in contact with while she was here,” Holmes said. “We still do not have any concrete leads as far as an actual suspect or suspects in this particular case.”
Holmes said JPD utilizes their crimestoppers hotline to generate stronger leads for investigations. He said in his years of service, someone knows information about the crime, it’s just getting the person to talk to the police.
The crimestoppers hotline is 601-355-8477. Holmes said if any information leads to an arrest, the person is eligible to a cash reward up to $2,500.