Abandoned South Carolina House Burns Down Two Days After Body Found In Freezer

Two days after a dead body was discovered in a freezer in an abandoned house in South Carolina, the home was found burned to the ground, thus making the case more mysterious.

A group of eight people had visited the vacant house in Norway, South Carolina, on Sunday because they heard it was haunted.

While checking out the house, teenager Madison Childers noticed a deep-freezer on the back porch of the house. When Childers opened the freezer, which was not in a working condition, he found it had a “rotten flesh smell.” He then discovered a badly decomposed dead body inside, which appeared to be dressed in jeans and socks.

The group reported the incident to the Orange County Sheriff's office that confirmed the remains were of a dead person. The body was turned over to the investigators and the police had taped off the area, local news outlet The Times and Democrat reported.

Two days later, the 100-year-old brick house was reduced to rubble after a fire broke out in the property Tuesday. The fire was “suspicious in nature,” Teddy Wolfe, Orangeburg County Fire district coordinator said, the Times and Democrat reported.

The investigators are working with forensic experts to identify the body, determine the sex and the cause of death.

“This process will take some time as we methodically investigate this case to ensure proper positive results,” the coroner’s office said Tuesday.

The house's current owner Joey Williamson said the two-story building had been vacant for almost a decade and had no electricity. He recalled seeing the freezer on the back porch about five years ago but did not find anything suspicious.

Childers, who discovered the body, described the experience as “scary.”

“You couldn’t tell it was a person, because... I think it had been in there for months,” Childers said. “There were maggots everywhere,” he added, reported local news outlet The State.

The investigators, who are awaiting the autopsy report, have not revealed the cause of the fire or more details about the case.