Columbia man identified as person found dead in Congaree River

A man whose body was pulled from the Congaree River on Wednesday drowned, according to the coroner's office.

Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher on Wednesday night identified the man as 50-year-old Thomas Wright "Antwon" Sumter, of Columbia. His death was ruled an accidental drowning, Fisher said after an autopsy Thursday morning.

Sumter's body was found about 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Congaree River, near the Cayce Riverwalk, according to the Cayce Department of Public Safety. A person tubing down the river on Wednesday made the discovery and called law enforcement, Sgt. Evan Antley said.

Investigators are still looking into how Sumter ended up in the river, but Cayce Public Safety Chief Byron Snellgrove told The State on Thursday that foul play is not suspected.

"We have no clue exactly why he was where he was," Snellgrove said. "We do know that he had had some medical issues in the last couple of weeks. We don't know if that contributed to it or not."

Officials say Sumter is not the man who was believed to have fallen off the Blossom Street bridge into the river on June 15. Emergency officials later suspended their search for that man.

This story was originally published June 28, 2018 at 7:09 AM.