Questions linger in man's death

Web posted May 10, 2000

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By Chasiti Kirkland
South Carolina Bureau

AIKEN -- Forensic pathologists who performed an autopsy on a man found dead in a wooded area Monday have ruled out homicide, but the exact cause of death is not yet known.

X-rays taken Tuesday of the badly decomposed body have led to a tentative identification of the black man, presumed to be 72, who lived in a nearby county. But Aiken County Coroner Sue Townsend won't say for sure who he is until his fingerprints, taken today, positively pinpoint him.

Mrs. Townsend said the man, found in a pine thicket two miles from Mason Branch Road, apparently had wandered away from a nearby hospital in early March. He had been hospitalized since November when he fell from the back of a pickup and broke his hip.

Mrs. Townsend would not confirm the name of the medical facility because family members have not been notified.

Doctors had performed surgery on the man, and he was a ward of the hospital until March 2, when officials filed a missing person report.

Mrs. Townsend said the man had a history of alcohol abuse. She also talked to neighbors, who told her he often would walk to find a drink.

His body was discovered Monday afternoon by a couple who were riding their all-terrain vehicle. When they found him, he was wearing a tan sports coat, blue trousers and a plaid shirt.

Police still are unsure what the man was doing in the wooded area or how he got there. But the coroner said it was possible the victim could have walked from the hospital to that location.

Reach Chasiti Kirkland at (803) 279-6895.