On Friday morning, the Berkeley County Coroner’s Office held a private burial for two unidentified and unclaimed individuals at Berkeley Memorial Gardens Cemetery. Despite extensive efforts to identify these individuals, including autopsies, dental exams, fingerprinting, DNA analysis, and genetic genealogy, the identities of the deceased remain unknown.
Efforts to Identify the Deceased
The burial comes after countless hours of work from the coroner’s office to determine the identities of these individuals. “Hundreds of hours [have] gone into investigating these deaths, but unfortunately we got to a point to where there’s nothing else we can do,” said Berkeley County Coroner Darnell Hartwell.
Although identification efforts have not been successful, the coroner’s office is still working with a genetic genealogy company to continue the search for answers and potentially notify any family or loved ones.
Acknowledging the Humanity of the Deceased
Even though these individuals remained unclaimed and unidentified, Hartwell emphasized their humanity, saying, “Even though they’re unclaimed or unidentified, these are somebody’s loved ones. These are people.” As a final act of respect, a prayer was offered over the individuals before their burial. “I’m proud that we are able to finally put them in a resting place,” Hartwell added.
Details of the Unidentified Individuals
The first person, a man, was discovered in Summerville near College Park Road in September 2023. The coroner’s office initially described him as possibly Hispanic or Native American, aged 45 to 70, with grey hair, wearing a USC Gamecocks hat and glasses.
The second individual was found in June 2024 at the Santee Cooper Cross Generations Station Coal Yard. At the time, the coroner only confirmed that the remains were human skeletal remains, and the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death continues. Both deaths are still being treated as suspicious.
Continuing the Investigation
Despite the lack of identification, the investigation is ongoing, and the coroner’s office is grateful for the help from the community. “We thank the community for their help in the investigation by calling in tips over the years,” Hartwell said, encouraging anyone with information to continue reaching out. The hope is that new information may eventually help solve the cases and provide closure for the families involved.
