Body found in burning car in SC Midlands, another found hours later submerged in swamp
Authorities in Sumter County are working to identify two pairs of human remains that were discovered in separate incidents on New Year’s Eve.
Early Tuesday morning, firefighters and the Sumter police department responded to a burning vehicle off of Boulevard Road around 3:30 a.m., the Sumter Item reports. A burned body was found inside the vehicle, according to the Sumter County coroner.
The remains will be sent to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston for an autopsy on Monday, WIS TV reports. Coroner Robbie Baker told the Item that material recovered from the car indicated who the occupant might be, but that no name would be released until the person’s identity could be confirmed. The arson team with the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division has been requested to assist in the investigation.
Later that same morning, another set of human remains were found in another car in Sumter. This time, a search and rescue team identified a submerged vehicle in Rocky Bluff Swamp off of Highway 401, WLTX reported. The car was pulled from the water around 7 a.m., and the remains inside have also been sent to MUSC for an autopsy.
The coroner told the Item that the four-door BMW appeared to have been submerged in 15 feet of water for “a very long time.”
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