Smith, 19, was found dead three miles away from his vehicle on July 8, 2015, in the middle of a dark country road in Hampton County, S.C., with deep gashes to his forehead. His death was initially ruled a hit-and-run, but now authorities believe his death was a homicide.
“I do know it was a success, they say they did collect evidence, it was very good documentation, and everybody was upbeat about the information that was collected,” Kinsey said. “And that’s not always the situation when you exhume someone after so many years.”
Kinsey went on to say the final autopsy report was not ready yet, but he said, “I’m very very excited about the report coming and the pathologists were very upbeat.”
Stephen Smith.Facebook
On Monday morning, Sandy Smith announced through the family’s attorneys that she is allocating a $35,000 reward from moniesraised from a GoFundMefor information leading to an arrest in connection with Stephen’s death.
Kacen Bayless/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty
“We hope that this reward will encourage anyone with information to come forward and provide the critical details needed to solve this case,” Attorney Ronnie Richter said in a statement.
Buster Murdaugh — the surviving son of convicted murdererAlex Murdaugh— and Smith were high school classmates. However, authorities have never accused anyone in the Murdaugh family of being connected to the killing, and last month, Bustervehemently deniedthat he had anything to do with Smith’s death.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
“He definitely didn’t run out of gas,” Bland said.
“Nobody leaves their wallet in their car, especially if they run out of gas,” Bland continued. “And nobody starts walking miles and miles — three miles from his car — down a country road at 4 in the morning.”
Bland — who said he believes Smith was killed at another location before he was placed on the road — also confirmed that Smith had no drugs in his system at the time of his death.
PEOPLE has contacted SLED for comment.
Anyone with information is urged to contact SLED at 803-737-9000 or emailtips@sled.sc.gov.
source: people.com
