Abandoned house burns to the ground days after body found in freezer, SC officials say

A gruesome mystery in the South Carolina Midlands has just become more complicated.

Days after a group of four-wheeler riders stumbled across a human body hidden in a deep freezer at an abandoned house in Orangeburg County, the house was burned to the ground, outlets report.

The blaze set Tuesday morning is “suspicious in nature,” Orangeburg County Fire District Coordinator Teddy Wolfe told The Times and Democrat. All that remains is a wreck of brick chimneys and a collapsed metal roof.

The two-story house was about 100 years old, the property owner told the outlet. Nobody has lived there in a decade.

The group of eight, who went to explore the house because of rumors it was haunted, discovered the body over the weekend, McClatchy News previously reported.

One of the group spotted the freezer, flipped it open and the putrid smell of rotting flesh rushed out. Inside, a body wearing blue jeans laid, McClatchy reported.

Madison Childers, a teenager, said the experience has left them shaken, WACH reported.

“It was very scary. You couldn’t tell it was a person, because... I think it had been in there for months,” Childers said, adding “there were maggots everywhere.”

The body was turned over to the county coroner, and the house was taped off by police, according to McClatchy.

“We won’t know anything more until an autopsy is completed later this week,” Orangerburg sheriff’s spokesman Richard Walker said.

In a Tuesday statement, the coroner’s office said they are working to identify the remains and to determine cause of death.

“This process will take some time as we methodically investigate this case to ensure proper closure and positive results,” the statement said.

The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is encouraged to call 1-888-Crime-SC.