The body of a “virtually mummified” woman was found in a clothing donation container in South Carolina
The body of a “virtually mummified” woman was found in a clothing donation bin in South Carolina that likely “had not been emptied in many years,” authorities said.
The hitherto unidentified remains were discovered early New Year’s Eve in a rusty dumpster near the Camden West Inn in Lugoff after someone reported a strong odor, officials in Kershaw County said.
Investigators initially assumed it was someone who had sought shelter from the freezing temperatures, but they soon realized the remains had been there for at least several months, coroner David West told WISTV.
The body was “virtually mummified,” West told the outlet.
“The donation bin probably hasn’t been emptied in many years,” West added, saying the bin contained old items like VHS tapes.
Sheriff Lee Boan told Fox 57 that it was impossible to identify the woman or detect her exact age because the body “was badly decomposed and mostly skeletal.”
That also made it impossible to know exactly how she died, he stressed.
“We are taking all precautions” and state investigators have “processed the scene as they would in a homicide investigation,” he said.
An autopsy has been scheduled for next Wednesday.