The Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation into the death of an Izard County man whose body was discovered Sunday morning, May 29th, in a wooded area near Wild Fern Ln, which is near the border between Baxter County and Izard County off State Highway 5 South.

     The body of 27 year old WELDON G. SPEIRS II of Horseshoe Bend had been found in the woods by a member of the family.  The victim was suspended upside down in a large cedar tree.  It appeared the victim’s foot had become lodged and tightly stuck in a crevice in the tree, and he had been unable to free himself.

     The family of the victim had reported him missing on Friday, May 27th to the Izard County Sheriff’s Office and to Baxter County Sheriff’s Office on May 28th.  The victim had been visiting a friend on Wild Fern Ln, and his vehicle was still parked there.  It is not known why he had gone into the woods.

     The body of the victim was removed by the Baxter County Coroner’s Office.  The decedent is being sent to the Arkansas State Medical Examiner’s Office in Little Rock for autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.  All immediate indications are that the death was accidental.  The investigation will remain open awaiting the results from the autopsy.

/s/ John F. Montgomery,
Baxter County Sheriff