In the early morning hours of August 28, 1955, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam invaded Emmett Till’s great-uncle’s home and abducted the boy at gunpoint. They then severely beat him and gouged out one of his eyes before taking him to the banks of the Tallahatchie River, where they killed him with a single gunshot to the head. Afterward they tied Till’s body to a large metal fan and dumped him into the river. His corpse, barely recognizable, was discovered in the river on August 31.