To This Day, The Lady In Red Remains One Of Mississippi’s Most Baffling Mysteries
Like any other state, Mississippi has its fair share of legends, lore, and mystery. One of the state’s most baffling mysteries involves the Lady in Red, whose perfectly preserved corpse was found decades ago. To this day, many facts about the Lady in Red, including her identity, remain unknown. Read on to learn about this baffling Mississippi mystery.
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At first glance, Lexington appears to be just like any other small town in Mississippi.
However, Lexington is anything but typical, and that’s because it’s the final resting place of the Lady in Red, one of Mississippi’s most intriguing and mysterious residents.
More specifically, the notorious gravesite can be found in Odd Fellows Cemetery in Lexington.
Rather small in size and surrounded by towering tombstones, the gravesite could easily be overshadowed, but that’s simply not the case, as its occupant is shrouded in mystery.
According to newspaper reports, the coffin was found by a backhoe operator while attempting to install a septic tank. When the backhoe came in contact with a foreign object just four feet below the surface, workers quickly gathered to investigate and were shocked to see a glass-top coffin, which contained the body of a woman in a red velvet dress.
Even more intriguing than the discovery of the unmarked gravesite was the condition of the Lady in Red.
At the time of her unearthing, the Lady in Red had been dead for an estimated 75 years yet her corpse wasn’t decomposing, and that’s because she was preserved amazingly well in a body-shaped casket that was filled with alcohol, a method of preservation that was common prior to the Civil War.
Word quickly spread about the discovery of the coffin and local researchers set out to identify the Lady in Red.
Unfortunately, her identity was never discovered. Her date of birth and death also remain a mystery. Based on her attire and the method of preservation used, historians estimate that she was born in 1835. Not long after her discovery, the Lady in Red was moved from Cruger to her final resting place in Lexington.
Though nothing’s been proven, there are several theories regarding the Lady in Red’s identity and how she ended up in an unmarked grave.
Some think her coffin fell off a wagon and never reached its final burial site. Then there are others who speculate that she was a paddleboat passenger, who died while traveling along the nearby Yazoo River.
Watch the drone footage below to see more of the historic Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Though Daniella was born in New York and has lived in a couple of other states, Mississippi has been her home for the past 25 years. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, Daniella began to hone her writing skills through various internships, working for The Royal Obsession and Anatomie clothing. In the years since, she’s had the privilege of having her articles appear in several publications, such as Parents & Kids Magazine and Girl Meets Strong. She’s also had the honor of interviewing actress Sela Ward for The Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience.
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