Man and woman found in burning car were killed before fire, Midlands officials say
The bodies found inside a burning vehicle on the side of Midlands road Monday were a man and woman who were killed before the fire started, the Sumter County Coroner’s Office said.
The deaths, originally considered suspicious, were ruled homicides Wednesday by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and Sumter County Coroner.
Coroner Robbie Baker determined the cause of death for the two people after performing an autopsy at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. The woman was shot in the head and the man suffered trauma to the head, according to a news release from the coroner’s office.
The IDs of people inside the vehicle have not been determined, and Baker said his office is working to identify the remains.
“DNA testing will be done over the course of the next several days to help us determine who our victims are,” Baker said in the release.
Members of the Sumter Fire Department put out the fire when deputies arrived to the vehicle parked on Foxville Road, the sheriff’s office said. That’s about 15 miles from downtown Sumter.
The vehicle was fully engulfed in flames, and the blaze is suspected to be arson, the sheriff’s office said.
The deaths remain under investigation by the coroner and sheriff’s office, with assistance from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), as well as the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
Richland County investigators got involved after it was learned that was where the burning vehicle was registered, Sumter County deputies said.
The sheriff’s office said it isn’t known if the man and woman were killed where their bodies were found, or if the homicides happened somewhere else.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 9:12 AM.
