SCSO: Body found in wooded area on Sunday afternoon identified

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - Shown is a Philadelphia police car with flashing lights in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. The Philadelphia Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police has filed a lawsuit Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022 seeking to stop a city law banning officers from pulling over drivers for low-level offenses from going into effect saying the law illegally pre-empts existing state laws on traffic violations. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. (WOLO)– According to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, a body found on Sunday afternoon in a wooded area has been identified.

The sheriff’s office says around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 28, deputies responded to a wooded area adjacent to Hwy 15 south, between Loman Road and Timmerman Street to investigate the report of a body that was found by area residents.

At the scene, investigators searched for and documented evidence.

The body was taken to the Sumter County Coroner where the process to determine identification began.

Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis says the person was identified as Howard Alexander Hodge, 31 of Sumter.

“The preliminary results of our investigation, along with the work of the coroner, do not indicate trauma or foul play. We will know conclusively following an autopsy. The investigation into Mr. Hodge’s death is still underway,” Sheriff Dennis says.