Clarksdale Man
Found Murdered

   JACKSON, Miss., Aug. 11 (AP) --- The body of a missing soldier, 22-year-old William L. Ford, was found floating in the Pearl River, today.
   There was a bullet hole in his head.
   Searchers found the body floating 100 yards downstream from the spot where a bullet-riddled car was found yesterday. The car was parked on an isolated dirt road.
   The body was retrieved on the Hinds County side of the river that divides the two' counties.
  The car was parked across the river in Rankin county.
   Officers listed Fold's home town as Clarksdale. The car carried a Georgia license plate.
   The death site was about two miles east of Jackson on the sandy banks of Pearl River. There was evidence of a struggle by the side of the car and Ford's empty billfold was recovered from near the car.

[The Greenwood Commonwealth, Greenwood, MS, 11 Aug 1954, Wed, Page 1]]

   Officers were investigating: slim leads Wednesday as to how William L. Ford, 22-year-old Jackson soldier, came to his death after his body was found Wednesday morning in Pearl River, with a bullet hole in his head.
    The body was found at 7:15 a.m. by Jim Smith, who was searching the river and its banks along with Fred L. Freeman, a Jackson policeman, and Frank E. Cutter. It was floating face down, and officers said it probably had lodged against a sunken log or limb.
   The soldier's bullet-riddled auto was found Tuesday afternoon by two 14-year-oid youths just east of the old River Bridge in Rankin county. It contained five bullet holes holes and a knife was thrust into the top of the driver's seat.
   The ex-paratrooper's billfold was found lying; on the sandy bank by the car, its contents spilled out.
   Ford visited his step-father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Dickson, on McDowell Circle, Monday and the last time he was seen bv them was when he left at 9 p. m.
   His father, Frank Ford, lives at Ridgeland.
   No trace of the death weapon had been found late Wednesday afternoon by officers working on the case, including Rankin county Deputy Sheriff Billy Holyfield and Gwin Cole of the Heehaw Patrolidentification Bureau.
   Ford was to have been married Tuesday night to Miss Betty Joan Hinton of near Fort Campbell. Ky., his station, in Clarksdale, Cole said.
   The site where the body was found was a scant 100 yards from where his 1952 Mercury automobile was found. Signs of a struggle in the sand led officers to believe Ford had met with foul play.
   Ford's grief-stricken fiancée was at the scene early Wednesday morning, as was his father and mother.
   Miss Hinton sobbed that Ford had told her that he was going to have to kill someone or someone will have to kill him.
   He said that he was in some kind of trouble."
   His mother said he drew his money out of the bank and was going to buy a new car Tuesday. "He said he was going to take me riding and when he didn't show up, I figured something had happened", she said.
   Ford was born and reared in Utica and was a paratrooper instructor at Fort Campbell. Ky.
   Final rites are to be at 10 a. m. Thursday from Baldwin Funeral chapel with Rev. Gordon L. Sansing, pastor of Broadmoor Baptist church, officiating with interment in Lakewood Memorial park.
   Survivors include a daughter, Karen Lynn Ford of Clarksdale; his mother and father, two brothers, Henry Marshall Ford of Clarksdale, and Robert Lee Ford of Jackson, and his paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Ford of Utica.

[Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS, 12 Aug 1954, Thu, Page 1]

Theorize Soldier
Committed Suicide

    JACKSON, Miss., Aug. Officers said they were working on the theory that an AWOL Army Sergeant waded into Pearl River and committed suicide the day before he was to be married.
   Deputy Sheriff Billy Holyfield of Rankin County said yesterday the .38 caliber revolver believed to have killed Sgt. William L. Ford of Beaumont. Tex., was found in four feet of water about 25 yards upstream from where the body was found.
   Holyfield said he had "not yet" labeled the 22-year-old man's death a suicide. He said the revolver would be tested before he made a statement.
   He added that one fired cartridge remained in an otherwise empty cylinder.
   Officers learned that a man resembling Ford had bought the revolver under another name the day before the body was found.
   Ford's car was found Tuesday on a little-used dirt road that divides Hinds and Rankin counties. Five bullet holes were in the car mostly on the dashboard.
   Several .38 caliber shells were found strewn about the area, Holyfield said, the car was bullet-riddled, a long hunting knife was stuck into the driver's seat, Ford's wallet lay empty on the scuffed sand and the knife sheath lay near the water's edge.
   Holyfield said despite the appearance, of a struggle, no blood was found and Ford's body bore no bruises to indicate he had been in a fight.

[The Greenwood Commonwealth, Greenwood, MS, 13 Aug 1954, Fri, Page 1]

Discount Belief
GI Suicide Victim

   JACKSON, Miss., Aug. 14 (AP) --- Mrs. James Dickson, mother of 22-year-old William L. Ford, said she is positive her son did not commit suicide.
   Ford, an AWOL Army sergeant, was found dead m Pearl River Wednesday. Investigating officers theorized that he shot himself while standing in the river.
   Ford's pistol was found in the water about 30 yards from where his body was retrieved.
   Mrs. Dickson said that when she saw him a few hours before he was killed "he had every intention of living."
   She described her son as a "happy-go-lucky boy. had lots of friends and never did anyone any harm. He wasn't the kind of boy who would take his own life."
   She said her son had planned to get married last Tuesday and had arranged to drive her to Clarksdale for the ceremony. She said he had $1,100 in cash Sunday and planned to use the money to buy a new car.

[The Greenwood Commonwealth, Greenwood, MS, 14 Aug 1954, Sat, Page 1]

Probe Suicide Idea
 In Soldier's Dealh
By Pinckney Keel

Officers were probing the possibility of suicide Thursday in death of William L. Ford, 22-year-  old paratrooper instructor, after the death weapon was found on the bottom of the Pearl River.
   The muddy river, dividing line between Hinds and Rankin counties, yielded the body of the soldier Wednesday morning. A bullet hole was in the right temple.
   Rankin County Deputy Sheriff Billy Holyfield and Andy Hopkins of the Highway Patrol Identification Bureau, said the gun was a 38 caliber snub-nosed revolver, and was found by Leonard Thames of the Highway Patrol Auto Theft Bureau. It was identified as the one purchased by Ford recently.
   A chain of men formed across the river just above the scene and moved slowly toward the 'spot where the body was found floating. Thames stepped on the gun and retrieved the weapon, about 25 yards from the Rankin County side and 35 yards from where the body was found.
   Composing the chain searching for the gun were Thames. Hopkins, Detective Sgt. S. B. Barnes of the Jackson Police Department and three trusties.
   The gun contained a single empty shell and five empty chambers, and was cleaned in order to run ballistics tests to be made immediately. Laboratory tests are also being run.
   Meanwhile, the possibility of murder was still being investigated without let-up, as relatives and friends of the dead man continued to be questioned.
   Ford's fiancé. Miss Betty Joan Hinton, said the soldier, who was AWOL from Camp Campbell. Ky. since last Friday, told her "I am going to have to kill someone or someone will have to kill me".
   Ford's 1962 Mercury was found Tuesday afternoon about a mile east of Jackson, at a spot 25 yards from where the body was found Wednesday. The car contained five bullet holes and a hunting knife had been stuck in the front seat. His rifled billfold and its contents were on the ground beside the car. Five empty 38 shells were also found on the sandy bank, as was the knife scabbard.
   Ford's divorced wife lives in Jackson, as does his step - father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Dickson. His father, Frank Ford, lives at Ridgeland. Heading the investigation are Holyfield. Hopkins, Gwin Cole of .the Highway Patrol Identification Bureau, and Chief of Detectives M. B. Pierce of the Jackson Police Department.
   Ford's funeral was held at 10 - a.m. Wednesday morning.

[Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS, 13 Aug 1954, Fri, Page 1]

[Jumpmaster Note:  No definitive answer in case closure has-been found and the suicide theory may have been accepted as fact.]

 
[courtesy of Natalie Maynor]

Application for a grave marker and resulting tablet for William L. Ford in Lakewood Memorial Park, Jackson (Hinds county), Mississippi.

William first enlisted in the Army on 26 May 1950.  He was discharged on 18 May 1953 and, after a month's break in service, re-enlisted on 23 June 1953.