Dead body discovered inside Midlands roadside donation bin, investigated as homicide
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Investigators are treating a body found in a clothing donation bin in Kershaw County as a potential homicide.
But county officials are unsure how the person found in a bin on Lugoff’s Main Street died, and believe they may have been dead inside the bin for months before the body was discovered.
The body was discovered around 8:45 a.m. Saturday after a passerby noticed an odor coming from the bin and checked inside, according to a report by TV station WLTX.
First responders initially believed the person may have died after seeking shelter inside the clothes bin during a recent cold snap, but determined the person had been dead for quite some time based on the condition of the body.
The person is being identified as a woman based on the clothing found on the body, but Kershaw County Coroner David West told WIS that the body was “virtually mummified,” while Sheriff Lee Boan told the Camden Chronicle-Independent that the body was “badly decomposed and mostly skeletal.”
West said it appeared the clothing bin, where drivers can pull up and deposit donated items for the needy through a slat, had been abandoned for some time and may not have been emptied in years.
The bin is located on the 800 block of U.S. Highway 1, the main drive through the community of Lugoff, between the Lugoff Toyota dealership and the Camden West Inn, the Chronicle-Independent reports.
West told media outlets an autopsy will be performed on the body on Wednesday to establish a cause of death.
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