Body found in freezer of South Carolina ‘haunted house’

NORWAY, S.C. — A group riding all-terrain vehicles found more than they expected when they went looking for a haunted South Carolina house and found a corpse in the freezer on the back porch, investigators said.

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The Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office said the group of eight people stopped to explore the property Sunday when some of the group opened a freezer on the back porch and found the body, WSOC-TV reported.

“It was very scary. You couldn’t tell it was a person, because ... I think it had been in there for months,” Madison Childers, one of the people who found the body, told WACH. “There were maggots everywhere.”

The smell was overwhelming. The body was wearing a pair of jeans but was otherwise unidentifiable, The State reported.

“As soon as the seal broke loose, it was just a horrifying smell,” Corey Antley told WACH. “It’s something you won’t forget, really.”

A medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine a possible identity and cause of death.

“This process will take some time as we methodically investigate this case to ensure proper closure and positive results,” Sean D. Fogle, county coroner, said in a statement Tuesday.

The property owner is cooperating with investigators.

The house was found burned to the ground Tuesday afternoon, WIS-TV reported. Officials are investigating.

Cox Media Group