Body found on Hilton Head identified as man missing for last 2 weeks, police say
The body of a man found on Hilton Head Island was identified as a 31-year-old who has been missing for nearly two weeks, according to authorities.
The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office identified Rashad Delaney, 31, on Wednesday after an autopsy was performed at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
The Coroner’s Office is still investigating the cause and manner of death, said Beaufort County Coroner David Ott.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office reported that Delaney’s body had been located in a neighborhood near Coligny Beach on Monday, after a landscaper found him in a wooded area, according to Maj. Bob Bromage.
The agency is investigating the death, which he called suspicious.
Delaney lived in Virginia but was known to stay on Hilton Head Island.
On Jan. 20, a missing persons report was filed by the mother of Delaney’s child, who also lives in Virginia, that she had not been able to reach him for the previous five days.
She told the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office that she and Delaney usually spoke every day, so she was worried for his safety, according to the report.
She said that Delaney was staying with someone at a home on Cordillo Parkway. The report does not say when Delaney arrived on Hilton Head.
The same day the report was filed, a deputy went to check the house for Delaney. A man living there told the deputy that Delaney had not been at the residence for three weeks, and he had not seen or heard from him.
Six days after the initial missing person report was filed, the Sheriff’s Office put out a missing persons alert on Delaney.
Delaney’s body was found on Feb. 1.
The Sheriff’s Office said anyone with information regarding his disappearance or his death is urged to contact Sgt. Kerry Johnson at 843-255-3300 or anonymously at Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry, 843-554-1111.
This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 5:35 PM.
