Human remains found in rural SC identified as homicide victim, coroner says

Human remains that were found in a rural area of South Carolina over the weekend have been identified as an Upstate man who was shot and killed, according to the Pickens County Coroner’s Office.

Steve Crawford Whitmire, a 68-year-old Liberty resident, was identified as the homicide victim whose body parts were found at about 6 p.m. Sunday, Coroner Andrew Wilson said Tuesday in a news release.

The remains were discovered near the 500 block of Massingill Memorial Drive in Pickens, according to the release. They were found about 30 feet off the road in an area that’s rural and heavily wooded, the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office said.

An autopsy was performed Monday that helped the coroner identify Whitmire, and determine that his cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.

Whitmire was called a missing person and his death was connected to a man who was involved in a recent police chase, the sheriff’s office said.

At about 2 a.m. May 15, Central Police Department responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle/person at an abandoned home in the 200 block of Aiken Street, according to the sheriff’s office.

Officers discovered what appeared to be evidence of a crime, and they began an investigation, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies were assisting with the investigation when 32-year-old Jeremy Lee Basquette was identified as a person of interest connected to the suspicious vehicle, according to the sheriff’s office.

Later that morning, police officers attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle operated by Basquette, the sheriff’s office said. This led to a vehicle pursuit that ended with “Basquette being mortally wounded by a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” at the intersection of S.C. 93 and U.S. 76 in Clemson, according to the sheriff’s office. That’s about a mile from the Clemson University campus.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating Basquette’s death.

That incident led law enforcement officers to believe Whitmire was a missing person who had been in recent contact with Basquette, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies couldn’t locate Whitmire, and evidence from the suspicious vehicle call created concerns about Whitmire’s safety, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies began a search for Whitmire.

That search led to the discovery of the human remains, and evidence that implicates Basquette as the suspect in Whitmire’s death, the sheriff’s office said. Information about the connection between Basquette and Whitmire was not available.

Despite Basquette’s death, both the sheriff’s office and coroner’s office are continuing an investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 864-898-5500.

This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 10:14 AM.

Noah Feit

The State

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Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription