Remains identified, one man charged after body found in barrel in Upstate lake
The Spartanburg County Coroner's Office has identified a body that was found inside a barrel floating in Lake Thicketty last week. One individual has been charged in connection with the incident by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.
Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger identified the decedent as Jeffrey Darin Sutphin, 56, of Chesnee, according to a press release on July 1.
Eric Shawn Fetzer, 25, of Chesnee, was charged with destruction, desecration and removal of human remains by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office on June 30, according to a release from the department.
The Cherokee County Detention Center's website shows Fetzer was released on a $5,000 surety bond.
"Investigators expect to make additional arrests regarding this incident in Cherokee County in the coming days in regard to the human remains being placed into Lake Thicketty," the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office statement said Friday.
On Monday afternoon, Clevenger told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal that an autopsy was conducted, but his office is currently awaiting toxicology results. The results will take about six weeks, he said.
Sutphin was previously declared missing on June 4, according to a press release from the Cherokee Sheriff's Office on June 23. He was last seen on Rutherfordton Highway leaving a Chesnee business on June 4 around 8 p.m., driving a gold 2006 Jeep Liberty, the release said.
Although the body was found in Cherokee County, the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office also opened an investigation because officials believe the death occurred in Spartanburg County.
The body was found around 1:45 p.m. on Thursday on the shore of Lake Thicketty in the Macedonia community of Gaffney, according to a release from the Cherokee coroner on Thursday evening.
“Deputies found the barrel near the shore and upon opening it found human remains. It appears the body had been in the container for a number of days," coroner Dennis Fowler said.
Later that day, investigators determined that the death occurred in Spartanburg County. The remains were then transferred to Clevenger's office Friday morning, according to Fowler.
"(Cherokee County Sheriff's Office) is charging (Fetzer) with disposal of the human remains, how it got to that point I don't know," Corporal John Burgess, with the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, said Monday afternoon. "We don't have anything further to release yet."
The Herald-Journal reached out to Cherokee Sheriff Steve Mueller for further information Monday afternoon, but did not immediately receive any response.
Chalmers Rogland covers public safety for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal and The Greenville News. He can be reached by email at crogland@shj.com.
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Remains identified, man charged after body found in barrel in lake
