BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The Berkeley County Coroner’s Office is continuing to ask for the public’s help in identifying the body of a man found dead in Summerville on Sept. 29.

The death is now being investigated as suspicious, but the coroner says the investigation is at somewhat of a standstill until an identification can be made.

Berkeley County Coroner Darnell Hartwell says in his almost 20-year career in the county, he has never had a body this difficult to identify.

“We are out at 9:00 at night knocking on doors, trying to get whatever information that we can, and the public has been very great with that calling in giving us different tips, different clues,” Hartwell says. “We look into each one of them, and unfortunately negative on being able to have him identified.”

Hartwell says the body was found off of the College Park Road area in Summerville in advanced stages of decomposition.

The condition of the body has made it difficult to identify the man with fingerprints not being an option and no dental work to compare the teeth to yet.

They are now working with SLED and other forensic labs to do more lab work and are submitting the DNA profile into a national database with hopes of a connection.

But until then, they are very limited in what can be done next.

“It’s a suspicious death that we need to do some further investigating on along with the sheriff’s office,” Hartwell says. “We can’t start on that until we are able to get him identified; so the longer we take to get him identified, the longer it’s going to take us to investigate this.”

He adds that until the identification can be made, the full investigation cannot begin and closure cannot be given to his loved ones.

“It’s very important for us; that’s part of our job as coroners is to assist these families in whatever way that we can,” Hartwell says. “At the end of the day, this is somebody’s child, and he deserves the respect that that’s needed.

“We just want to do the right thing by him and have him turned over to his family so he can have a proper disposition.”

The public’s knowledge of this person could be extremely helpful in this case.

Hartwell describes the man as white, between 45 and 70 years old with gray hair.

He is approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall, between 155 to 175 pounds and has one missing upper front tooth.

The man was found wearing a maroon South Carolina Gamecocks hat, glasses, a light blue long-sleeve button-down shirt, black pants and black athletic shoes.

Hartwell says the man possibly frequented the College Park Road area and the Red Oak Circle neighborhood in Summerville.

Anyone with information or concerns about a missing person is asked to contact the Berkeley County Coroner’s Office at 843-719-4566.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The action on and off the court was spirited as Ashley Ridge and Summerville faced off Oct. 9 with the 5A Region 7 Girls Volleyball Championship on the line.

The athleticism of both teams and the energy of their student sections were on full display for a packed Summerville gym. The teams took turns delivering kills and making dynamic defensive plays with each being loudly celebrated by one of the fan bases or the other. The student sections did their best to out cheer each other and school officials issued multiple warnings, reminding the students to not get so close to the court and to not allow their enthusiasm to get out of hand.

Ashley Ridge and Summerville have been the top teams in their region for some time. The past two seasons, they split their region matches against each other and shared the region championship. The Swamp Foxes defeated the Green Wave Sept. 7 in their first match of 2023 so once again the region championship depended on the outcome of the second match.

Summerville showed it was again determined to claim a piece of the prize during the rematch and won the first game. However, Ashley Ridge held off the Green Wave the next three games to claim a 25-27, 25-23, 26-24, 25-22 victory and the region championship outright.

“We have a lot of talented seniors and we just took the mentality that this year it is completely ours, no doubt,” Ashley Ridge captain Samantha Alwardt said. “Even though we were in their gym, a lot of our students showed up and that helped us do what we had to do. I think we are peaking at the right time and aren’t finished yet.”

Early during all four games Summerville pulled ahead by three or more points, but each time Ashley Ridge rallied.

“I like that when somebody pushed us around, we pushed back,” Ashley Ridge coach Leigh-Ann Carter said. “We fought and didn’t give up so we were able to get the win. Summerville has a heck of a crowd so we expected that and this match was a great way for us to start wrapping up our season and to get ready for the playoffs. It was a great match.”

The Swamp Foxes were led by seniors Indigo McDaniel, with 24 kills and two blocks, and Alwardt, with 35 digs and three service aces. Junior Reece Bellush led Ashley Ridge in assists with 36.

Later in the week, Ashley Ridge defeated Stall to improve to 14-2 on the season with an 8-0 mark in region play. As the region’s top seed, the Swamp Foxes will open the playoffs at home Oct. 18 against one of two Lower State at-large teams. If it wins in the first round, Ashley Ridge will also have home-court advantage in the second round.

Oct. 9

SHS Girls Tennis v. ARHS 4:30 p.m.

SHS Girls Volleyball v. ARHS 6:30 p.m.

FDHS Girls Tennis @ WAHS 4:30 p.m.

FDHS Girls Volleyball @ WAHS 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 10

SHS Boys Volleyball v. ARHS 7 p.m.

FDHS Boys Volleyball v. WAHS 7 p.m.

FDHS Girls Golf @ GCHS 4 p.m.

Oct. 11

ARHS Girls Volleyball @ RBSH 6:30 p.m.

FDHS Girls Tennis v. SHS 4:30 p.m.

FDHS Girls Volleyball v. SHS 6:30 p.m.

FDHS Cross Country @ Lake Warren (Hampton) 5:15 p.m.

PWP Volleyball @ Ashley Hall 6 p.m.

Oct. 12

ARHS/SHS Boys Volleyball @ CBHS 6 p.m.

ARHS Girls Volleyball @ Wando 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 13

ARHS Football v. BHS 7:30 p.m.

SHS Football at WAHS 7:30 p.m.

FDHS Football @ RBSH 7:30 p.m.

PWP Football @ Hilton Head Prep 4 p.m.

Oct. 14

Bob Jenkins Classic Cross Country (Newberry) 7:30 a.m.

5A State Swimming Championships (Columbia) 6 p.m.

SCISA Swimming Finals (North Charleston Aquatics Center) 9 a.m.

Oct. 15

5A Girls Golf Lower State Championships (Florence) 8 a.m.

Trump is speaking Monday afternoon at Sportsman Boats in his first visit to South Carolina since the Silver Elephant Gala last month.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Former President Donald Trump took the stage at a campaign event in Summerville Monday predicting a record-breaking win in the South Carolina Primary as he campaigned for a second term as commander-in-chief.

Trump is speaking Monday afternoon at Sportsman Boats in his first visit to South Carolina since the Silver Elephant Gala last month.

He told the crowd that his last two years in office were the best two years South Carolina boat builders and South Carolina businesses have ever had, saying that boat builders couldn’t make the boats fast enough.

“When I left the office business was roaring like a 400 horsepower Mercury outboard motor,” Trump said. “But then the economy slammed into a pile of rocks known as crooked Joe Biden.”

He promised to end Biden’s “war on American energy” and reclaim energy independence.

“In other words, we will drill, baby, drill,” he said.

Trump said he won South Carolina twice by record numbers and pledged to do it again.

“We did phenomenally here. We’ve always done well here and we’re going to do it at a level that nobody’s ever seen,” he said. “So we broke the record twice. We’re going to break it a third time. We’re going to break our own record.”

He said he intends to “take back our country and we’re going to make America great again.”

Before Trump’s speech, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster told the crowd he went into the State House about a month after Trump went into the White House.

“And South Carolina has been booming ever since,” he said. “But then in January 2021, everything changed.”

McMaster said his administration has had to fight the Biden Administration “every day.” He cited the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates for military personnel, and accused it of destroying the nation’s borders and the nation’s energy independence.

“From 2016 until now, [the Biden Administration] has been doing anything and everything they could, legal, illegal, ethical, unethical, unheard of, unprecedented, to do one thing: That includes two bogus impeachments and full-of-baloney indictments to do what? To stop one man, to stop our man from being president of the United States,” McMaster said.

Gov. Henry McMaster praised former President Donald Trump Monday at a campaign event held in Summerville.

Dorchester County deputies said earlier on Monday that Trump’s visit to Summerville would cause delays on Highway 78 from Summerville east of Berlin G. Myers Parkway to Jedburg Road at Mallard Road. Drivers in the area are asked to search for alternate routes if they don’t live or work along Highway 78 and are encouraged to use other entrances to neighborhoods in the area.

Traffic delays are expected to last through about 5 p.m. Monday but the delays could be extended.

Dorchester County deputies are warning of traffic delays ahead of former President Donald Trump’s visit to the Lowcountry.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Summerville designer Gray Benko and her family are on a quest to bring color and life back to historic spaces in the Charleston area. It’s a feat they are accomplishing head-on in a new TV series called “Happy to be Home with the Benkos.”

In six episodes, Gray Benko teams up with her craftsman husband, Mike Benko, and her father, Joe “Grumpy” Highsmith, to renovate portions of six historic Charleston-area homes.

Each episode features a different house that dates back at least 100 years. The idea is to add color, texture and fun to each one while breaking away from the “stereotypical farmhouse concept that has been so popular for so long,” said Mike Benko.

Features

Most of the renovated spaces are ones the homeowners were unhappy with. They were either looking for a change, or the space needed some sort of structural or construction work.

The crew works to salvage the integrity of each home’s history while adding the flair of Gray Benko’s designs. Once complete, most of the spaces are revived from floor to ceiling with brand new construction, vibrant colors and patterns, antique furniture and fixtures from local shops.

Each member of the trio has their own rule in the renovations. Gray, who is also a photographer, is responsible for the designs. Highsmith, a general contractor from Hilton Head Island, oversees the construction. And Gray describes her husband, Mike, as a renaissance man who’s “like a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy.” He completes a personalized, special project for each homeowner.

Gray, a Lowcountry native, said her family’s passion for this work likely stems from living in historic homes for so many years. They’ve renovated their own homes, “and that’s kind of how this whole things started,” she said.

“I did our houses, people saw it on my Instagram, loved it and then started asking me for help with their house,” she said. “And then it all turned into this whole TV show thing, and here we are.”

Home and Garden

“Happy to be Home with the Benkos” airs on the Magnolia Network, which features original shows curated by Chip and Joanna Gaines, the stars of the hit home renovation TV series “Fixer Upper” and owners of the Magnolia home brand. The show can be streamed on HBO Max and Discovery+, too.

Since the Benkos utilize local businesses to help with the renovations, many Lowcountry faces are seen on the show, too, like Charleston upholsterer Kelvin Moultrie of Carolina Auto Trim, seamstress Elizabeth Wheaton of Wheaton Whaley Home and designer Sally Bennet of Mirth Studio, among other South Carolinians.

The Benkos are currently taking on new projects in the Summerville and Charleston areas. Homes that are built in the 1920s or earlier are preferred.

“We are looking for people who are not afraid of color, obviously, and who have renovations that they already want to do,” Gray said.

Those who are interested should send an email to [email protected].

Real Estate

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SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Some businesses say prioritizing a sense of place in the town of Summerville is most important and sometimes that means new development, despite what some people might think.

Dorchester County has a proposed plan to turn 500 N. Main St., also known as their main county building, into a hotel, retail spaces, a parking garage and more.

Some businesses located in the heart of Summerville, like Eva’s Restaurant, think change is about time.

“If we don’t have growth, we don’t have a future,” general manager Tina Howard said.

Eva’s Restaurant has been serving the town since 1944. With the proposed development, Howard says she’s not worried about competition.

“I think it would benefit us as a small business with, you know, bringing in tourists,” Howard said. “...I don’t feel it would hurt us personally because we have such a strong, established business.”

Diane Frankenberger, the owner of People, Places & Quilts, says she’s watched Summerville grow for over 30 years. She says with the old post office as the new public works art center, the old Coca-Cola company as the new YMCA and an old hardware store as her own business, she believes both the county and town councils prioritize preservation.

“You have to go forward with the future,” Frankenberger said. “We still can’t have the same houses around here and the old town hall and no computers and blah blah blah. And so, it’s keeping a sense of place, but moving forward with an eye towards the future.”

The county has already approved plans to preserve part of the county building, which once was the old hospital, and improve the current Veteran’s monument.

“I think when people are calling names or say, ‘Don’t do something,’ let’s wait and see and work together and make the best use of what we’ve got there,” Frankenberger said.

Howard says she wants her 6-year-old grandson to be able to experience a flourishing Summerville, just like she has all her life.

“A lot of people complain about the growth and ‘People will stop coming here, we’re full, don’t come here,’” Howard said. “Without growth, we don’t have a future. The future is growth.”

Frankenberger says she’s ready to move forward.

“No more gas on the fire,” Frankenberger said. “Let’s put water on the fire.”

Dorchester County provided the following statement about the proposed plan:

Dorchester County is looking forward to having greater capacity and flexibility to complete the following projects from fee revenues of the redevelopment:

Funding to preserve the façade of the old hospital building.

A new civic park and improvements to the Veterans Memorial.

An additional $8 Million in funding to DD2 schools to supplement $2 Million from the TIF.

Provide $20 Million in funding for a Community Recreation Facility in the Summerville area.

Provide $2 Million in additional funding for streetscaping and improvements to Main Street and Cedar Street.

Provide credits for workforce housing for teachers, firefighters, law enforcement, and first responders within the multi-family development for at least 15 years.

A modern County office building and additional Class A Office Space in the downtown area.

A new downtown hotel and restaurant to provide much-needed retail and hospitality amenities in the downtown area.

Create additional parking by providing for the construction of a parking garage in the downtown area.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.