Woman’s body found inside donation bin after being there for months, SC sheriff says
An investigation is underway after a body was found inside a clothing donation bin, and authorities believe it had been there for months, the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office said Monday night.
The body is believed to be that of an adult female “based on the clothing located on the body,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The woman has not been identified, but the sheriff’s office said an autopsy scheduled for Wednesday might provide her name and additional information. That includes a cause of death, a date of death, and the original location of the death, according to the release.
The sheriff’s office warned the public that finding answers to these questions “will not be a fast process.”
The body was discovered Dec. 31 in a donation bin located near Camden West Inn at 850 U.S. 1 South in Lugoff, the sheriff’s office said. That’s about 3 miles from Lugoff-Elgin High School in an area densely packed with retail businesses, car dealerships, and restaurants.
Following the discovery, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was called to process the bin and “properly recover the body,” according to the release.
“Unfortunately, it appears the body has possibly been there for months,” Sheriff Lee Boan told the Camden Chronicle-Independent. “It was badly decomposed and mostly skeletal.”
The donation bin was removed after the body was recovered, the sheriff’s office said. In addition to the body, the bin contained a number of items that appeared to be years old, Boan said, including VHS tapes. It appeared the bin had not been checked or emptied in some time, the Chronicle-Independent reported.
In addition to the sheriff’s office and SLED, the Kershaw County Coroner’s Office is assisting with the investigation.
“We will know more facts as the investigation moves forward. It is very early in the investigation,” Boan said in the release. “We are NOT ruling out anything at this time.”
Several people responding to the sheriff’s office post on Facebook about the discovery said it could be a woman who was reported missing in June, and had not been seen by her family since March 2022. In June, the sheriff’s office in a Facebook post said Leslie Lemoine was missing.
In a Facebook post of her own, a woman identifying herself as Lemoine’s daughter said: “We do believe this could be my mother. The detective called me immediately and informed of the possibility. ... Many of the things they are telling me about what they found on the body sound like her but I can not be for sure. Please just send our family prayers.”
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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This story was originally published January 3, 2023 at 9:25 AM with the headline "Woman’s body found inside donation bin after being there for months, SC sheriff says."
