LAC director dies after a morning run in Beaufort

BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) — Thomas Bardin Jr., the director of South Carolina’s Legislative Audit Council, has died after going on a morning run. He was 54.

Beaufort County Coroner Ed Allen said Bardin was pronounced dead at a Beaufort hospital about noon Saturday. Allen is awaiting formal autopsy results before releasing the cause of death.

Allen says Bardin’s wife, Angie, found him and called 911.

Allen says Bardin ran daily. The couple was in Beaufort visiting his mother. They have two children.

Bardin has been director of the Legislature’s auditing arm since 2009. The Beaufort native previously worked at the agency from 1979 to 1997 in various positions. He left in 1997 to lead the Department of Social Services’ performance assessment division. He also was director of planning at DSS.