A body discovered in a wooded area north of Minden has been identified.

Webster Parish Sheriff Jason Parker said the man has been identified as 43-year-old Samuel Jay Dance, a resident of the 1300 block of Blue Run Rd.

Parker said the body was positively identified by family members from photos taken during the investigation.

Dance’s body was found Sunday around 5:40 p.m. by two individuals walking along a creek bank east of Willard Ray Rd. Investigators estimated the body had been in the wooded area approximately five to six days and was badly decomposed.

Parker said no cause of death has been reported at this time. The body was taken to Little Rock, AR, for autopsy.