February 28, 2013

Whatever his prospects for winning the coming mayoral election in his hometown of Clarksdale, Miss., Marco McMillian was considered by many to be a man on the rise. So word spread fast when his SUV was involved in a wreck in Mississippi this week, and he was nowhere to be found.

The discovery of the 34-year-old McMillian's body near a Mississippi River levee Wednesday stunned residents of Clarksdale, a Blues mecca in the flatlands of the Mississippi Delta.

Authorities were investigating the death as a homicide, and said a person of interest was in custody, but released few other details. Campaign spokesman Jarod Keith says McMillian's campaign was noteworthy because he may have been the first openly gay man to be a viable candidate for public office in the state.