Mississippi Civil Rights Workers' Murders - Federal Authorities Intervene

Federal Authorities Intervene

While on their way to work driving south down Highway 21, Raymond Dallas and T. Hudson, see a burning car at the edge of the Bogue Chitto Creek at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Monday June 22; however, they continue on to work. They later offered this information to investigating federal agents.

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover orders FBI Office in Meridian to begin a preliminary search. John Proctor is the agent in charge at FBI Meridian. At 6:20 P.M., U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy escalates the search and 150 federal agents are sent from New Orleans.

In the evening, two Native Americans found a smoldering car about 25 yards off Highway 21 near the Bogue Chitto Creek. They were there to fish near the bridge that spanned the river, not an uncommon site in Mississippi. The creek was a short distance from one of three Native American reservations found in Neshoba County. One fisherman inspected the smoldering remains which he considered purposely abandoned. He salvaged the hub caps and a mirror from the CORE station wagon and hid them in a blackberry thicket to retrieve them at a later date. He later revealed his newly acquired stash to Federal authorities.