Three Civil Rights Workers Go Missing

Freedom Summer volunteers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman left together to investigate the burning of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Neshoba County. The men were arrested and reportedly released, but never returned to the COFO office. They were reported missing, and federal officials initiated a search of the area to find them. Their bodies were found in a newly constructed dam on August 4, 1964, but the man who ordered their murder wouldn’t be brought to justice for over four decades more.

Pictured: A black and white photograph of the Mississippi Burning crime scene. Six men stand in the dam where the bodies were found. On the far left, another man stands holding a shovel.

Credit: Neshoba District Attorney’s Office