(As originally published with bells and whistles, Sun, January 1st 2023, 5:40 PM EST; first article here)
KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. (TND/WACH) — The smell coming from a clothing donation bin reportedly caught the attention of someone passing by, and that led to the discovery of a female body inside.
Now, the sheriff says authorities are investigating “as they would a homicide.”
The bin was between a car dealership and a motel, and investigators took the whole thing away.
This happened found Saturday morning in Lugoff, S.C., which is northeast of Columbia.
WACH reports not much is known about the body at this point.
Officials believe the body is female, but they could not specify the age, and there’s no indication of how the person died.
At first, they thought the person may have died trying to stay warm during a recent cold snap, but the remains were too decomposed for that.
Unfortunately, it appears the body has possibly been there for months,” Kershaw County Sheriff Lee Boan said. “It was badly decomposed and mostly skeletal.”
Officials also said a number of items in the bin appeared to be several years old, including a collection of VHS tapes.
They expect to learn more about the case after an autopsy on Wednesday.
