Driver spots body by road near PB

Sheriff’s deputies are investigating after finding a woman’s body along a rural road in Jefferson County, officials said Wednesday.

A driver traveling along Gibb Anderson Road just after 10 a.m. Wednesday spotted the body, which was lying close to an asphalt drive, operations commander Maj. Lafayette Woods Jr. said.

Woods said the woman was clothed, but there was no identification on the body and the state of decomposition precluded officers from immediately releasing any kind of identifying details. Woods said it was impossible for officers to immediately determine age, cause of death, hair color or race.

“That road is not heavily traveled,” Woods said. “It’s a rural, agricultural area. Mostly just farmers and farmhands on it. [The body] had been there for at least a day and a half, two days. That’s not unusual.”

Woods said forensic anal- ysis would help determine the circumstances of the woman’s death and help identify her.

The state medical examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy today, according to the news release.

Gibb Anderson Road is near Pine Bluff, just south of Grider Field Ladd Road in Jefferson County.

A photo of the area provided by the sheriff’s office shows green, heavy undergrowth lining the unmarked asphalt drive where the body was found.

The sheriff’s office asked anyone with information concerning the case to call the Criminal Investigation Division of the Jefferson County sheriff’s office at (870) 541-5496 or email information to tips@jeffcoso.org.