Crew working in woods stumbles upon remains, SC cops say. They belonged to missing man
A crew was working in a patch of woods when it stumbled upon human remains, South Carolina officials said.
Now, 40-year-old James Michael Smith has been identified as the man who was found dead. He went missing more than two weeks earlier, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office told McClatchy News in an email.
Smith vanished from the Greenville area on July 20. Then days later on Aug. 1, deputies turned to Facebook to ask the public for clues in the case.
Though the sheriff’s office shared few details about Smith’s disappearance in their Facebook post, they said he went missing along White Horse Road. Mystery lingered until his skeletal remains were found about 1 mile from where he was last seen.
A work crew made the discovery as it was “marking wetlands” behind the Greenville County Aquatic Complex, deputies said in an Aug. 8 news release.
“This case is pending an autopsy to determine the manner and cause of death,” officials wrote, adding that Smith’s death wasn’t considered suspicious.
The Greenville County Coroner’s Office said it’s working with deputies to investigate Smith’s death.
This story was originally published August 10, 2023 at 6:09 AM with the headline "Crew working in woods stumbles upon remains, SC cops say. They belonged to missing man."
