25-05-2025
Human remains from a potential ‘long forgotten burial site' surface in SC
Tourists discovered human remains while visiting a beachfront property on Edisto Island, according to the Colleton County Sheriff's Office.
On May 23, a group of people were touring the Jeremy Cay community near Legare Road on Edisto Island when they stumbled across what they first thought were fossils. Upon further inspection, the group realized they were human remains and contacted the Colleton County Sheriff's Department, according to a news release.
Deputies along with the Edisto Police Department secured the scene and began a preliminary investigation, the release said.
The remains were found on what investigators believe is a 'long forgotten burial site' from a 19th century settlement known as Edingsville Beach, according to the release.
Edingsville Beach, established around 1825, was located a few miles northeast, between Jeremy Inlet and Botany Bay. It was a popular destination for wealthy vacationers in the 19th century, according to an article on a website for the Town of Edisto Beach.
Because of erosion from the Atlantic Ocean and impacts from the Civil War, the settlement, which featured about 60 brick houses, was mostly abandoned after the war's end in 1865, and became completely desolate in 1893 after a hurricane hit the area, the article stated.
Friday's discovery of human remains was not the first from the settlement.
'In 2015, a Pennsylvania tourist visiting the north end of Edisto Island spotted a bone sticking out of the mud while the tide was coming in. He pulled out several bones before they had a chance to get washed away into the ocean,' the article said.
Following that, a former ranger at Edisto Beach State Park, while on vacation, found teeth attached to a skull that were dated back to between 1865 and 1870, according to the article.
The remains found Friday have been transported to the Medical University of South Carolina for forensic analysis and identification, according to a news release.
