Coroner identifies body found in former rest area Wednesday

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)– Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher says she identified the man whose body was found at an abandoned rest area along I-20 on Wednesday as 69-year-old Walter R. Payne Jr. of New London, Ohio.

Officials say a trooper from the South Carolina Highway Patrol found Payne’s body near a wooded area at the former rest stop shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday.

An autopsy to determine the cause of death is scheduled for Friday.

The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department is investigating further.