Police are awaiting an autopsy to determine the cause of death and the identity of a man whose body was found in a wooded area near a Mississippi casino hotel.

Vicksburg Police Chief Penny Jones said the body was found near the Ameristar Hotel while officers were checking on the welfare of a man, adding members of his family went to the police department Tuesday morning and told officers they had not heard from him since the early part of December.

The family said they received information that the man may be at a homeless encampment in the area around the Ameristar Hotel, located at 4116 Washington St., and officers searched the area near the hotel.

Officers, assisted by the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, located the remains of a male subject in a ravine near the Ameristar Hotel parking lot at approximately 1:20 p.m.

The remains will be taken to the Mississippi State Crime Lab where an autopsy will be performed to ascertain the time and cause of death.

The investigation is in its initial stages.