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Federal and local investigators continued an inquiry Wednesday into the Aug. 26 death of a 15-year-old Atmore boy, Woodrow Riley, who was found hanging by an elastic cord on his back porch. Some black Atmore residents are saying Riley's death may have been the result of a hate crime, although investigators summoned to the scene said they found nothing to indicate a homicide. Escambia County Sheriff Grover Smith said he called in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation to assist early on in the probe to be sure all the evidence would be thoroughly evaluated. So far, he said, everything points toward the death being a suicide. Family members aren't ready to accept that conclusion, according to one relative. "I really don't know what the others are thinking," said Celia Staples, Riley's aunt. "To be honest, I think he didn't do it. I don't believe he did it to himself the way they said it was done." [more

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