A black teenager found dead in a forest in Louisiana is thought to have drowned.

The disappearance and death of Quan “Bobby” Charles has sparked speculation about racial crimes.

The family of a 15-year-old woman filed a missing person report October 30 in the town of St. Mary’s Parish in Baldwin.

His body was found four days later in a forest near the Iberian parish town of Loreville, about 20 miles away.

Police are treating the death as a homicide and urging anyone with information to come forward.

Sheriff Tommy Romero said: “I want to reassure the public that I and my team, trying our best and following every lead, can gather evidence of what happened to the untimely death of Quan” Bobby “Charles.

“Any loss of life is a tragedy and especially true when it comes to a young person.”

The Iberian Parish Coroner’s Office said no injuries were found before the death.

It states that his body was found in the water so that any trauma was caused by the corpse or aquatic animal.

Evidence of drowning included muddy water in his airways, “hyper swollen lungs” and water in his sinuses.

Kawan’s family has created a fundraising page to raise স্বাধীন 15,000 (11 11,400) for an independent post-mortem and other expenses.

The page showing Cowan’s picture next to the one that threw 14-year-old Emmett Till at launch in 1955 has so far fetched more than ৪ 244,000 (£ 17,000).

Ron Haley, one of the three civil rights lawyers representing Charles’ family, said in an emailed statement:

“While it may appear that the relationship between the Charles family and local agencies has been hostile, at the end of the day the family only wants truthful answers as to how and why they died without providing these answers.”