Weather in Mississippi from Oct. 2 through Nov. 2 , 2022 was a very humid 77-82 degrees most of October and cooled off to highs of 73 degrees by the beginning of Nov. Lows only about 57 degrees at night at this time.
The woods in Mississippi are full of venomous snakes, some of which are more aggressive (water moccasins), any number of venomous spiders, wild hogs( which can get enormous and will kill you and eat you), coyotes, panthers, bobcats, occasionally black bear, not to mention alligators if you're near any rivers, lakes or ponds. Also of note many scavengers to add such as raccoons , vultures etc etc. All of this to say that under any circumstances the woodlands in and of themselves are not a benign place. I hiked through some of that area of that county when I was a teenager, though I don't know the exact location where he was found. I would definitely not have wanted to be out there at night.
I'm not drawing any conclusions from this. Just thought I would share the info to add to the facts.