Hilton Head man, woman charged with moving body found at Bluffton extended stay hotel

A Hilton Head Island man and woman were charged Monday with the unauthorized removal of a body from the place it was found in connection with the death of a Bluffton man at a Bluffton hotel.

The body of Kevin Hill Jr., 35, was found around 10:15 a.m. Jan. 5 at the NEXTHome Extended Stay and Suites on Fording Island Road, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office news release.

The man and woman were charged after evidence led investigators to believe the two moved Hill’s body from a hotel room to a trash closet at the facility. The charges are misdemeanors. The Island Packet does not typically name those charged with misdemeanors.

“There’s substantial evidence that that’s what occurred,” Capt. Bob Bromage of the Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

Bromage declined to provide details about the evidence that led to the arrests due to the ongoing investigation. Hill’s autopsy and toxicology reports have not been completed, so investigators don’t know the cause and manner of death, Bromage said.

The man charged Monday was arrested on a warrant for cocaine possession shortly after Hill’s body was found, according to Bromage and Beaufort County Court records.

As of Tuesday morning, the woman remained in custody at the Beaufort County Detention Center.

According to detention center records, the man was released Monday.

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 9:09 AM with the headline "Hilton Head man, woman charged with moving body found at Bluffton extended stay hotel."