Grundy County, Tennessee, authorities are investigating the discovery of a woman's body hanging in a wooded area in Gruetli-Laager Tuesday afternoon.
Investigators are calling it a death investigation and have not ruled out foul play, Sheriff Clint Shrum said in a statement issued late Tuesday.
The body of the woman, described only as white, was found in the Red Barn Road area in the southern portion of Gruetli-Laager, Shrum said. Gruetli-Laager, in Southeast Grundy County, has a population of a little more than 1,700 people. There are fewer than a handful of homes on Red Barn Road, which is less than a mile long.
"We are in the preliminary stages of this investigation," Shrum said, "and need to process all the evidence before we can make a determination of what happened."
He said the woman's body has been identified but her name has not yet been released.
An autopsy is being performed in Nashville.
This is a developing story. Stay with the Times Free Press for updates.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.