The Lowndes County Sheriff's Department, and two state agencies are searching for clues involving a body found Monday in Burkeville.

"We were called on Monday morning to the Burkeville community n someone said there was a body in the road," said Lowndes County Sheriff Willie Vaughner. "When we arrived, we found that the body of an unidentified black male had been dumped in the middle of the street, on Lake Berry Road."

The sheriff said no one in the area knew who the man was, but it was even more difficult to identify him than would normally be the case.

"We believe the man was dead when he was left there," Vaughner said. "But his body was set afire n it is even harder now to determine who the man might be."

Vaughner said that neither his department, nor any other departments in Lowndes County have received any reports of missing persons that might match even a basic description of the victim.

"We are being assisted in this case by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences," he said.

Assistance would greatly improve the chance that the victim could be identified, Vaughner said.

"We are asking people from all over, not just in Lowndes County, but in the surrounding counties as well, to please call us at 334-548-2151 if they know anything about this victim, or even if they know of a man that has been missing over the last week or so," he said.

"Somebody somewhere is missing this man, and we want to be able to contact them," Vaughner said. "If anyone even knows of a friend or acquaintance that might have a missing relative, we are asking them to call us."

The Lowndes County Sheriff's Department can be reached 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Callers need not identify themselves to give information.