Coroner identifies man found at abandoned rest area in Lexington County
The man whose body was found at an abandoned rest area in Lexington County was identified Thursday.
Walter R. Payne Jr. was the man discovered by South Carolina Highway Patrol near Interstate 20 on Wednesday morning, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said.
No cause of death has been determined for the 69-year-old New London, Ohio resident, but an autopsy is scheduled for Friday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, according to the coroner’s office.
Payne was found by the trooper before 8 a.m. at the rest area on the westbound side of I-20, between the 49 and 48 mile markers, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
That’s just beyond Exit 51 for Longs Pond Road, outside of the town of Lexington.
Because Highway Patrol regularly monitors the former rest area, investigators believe the body was placed there sometime after Tuesday afternoon, according to sheriff’s department spokesman Capt. Adam Myrick.
The man was found at the edge of the woods, the sheriff’s department said.
On Wednesday, the sheriff’s department said it was too early in the investigation to say if foul play was suspected in the man’s death, or place a timeline on when he died.
The death remains under investigation by the sheriff’s department.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 12:52 PM.
