Calhoun County (WLTX) - Deputies say a woman found dead in her home had been there for more than a year, and no one knew it.
The Calhoun County Coroner's Office has begun to piece together the story of 74-year-old Mary Sue Merchant. They believe it's her body they found in a home in the Sandy Run community, and no one noticed she was gone.
"So far, we've found a few parts of this puzzle, but not many," explained Coroner Donnie Porth, "It was a lot of sadness of course, because you wouldn't think the world that we live in today that somebody could live their whole life and then passed away for a year and a half. And nobody would have had the opportunity to check on her."
Thursday afternoon, law enforcement entered the home that once belonged to Merchant on Old Swamp Road. It had been sold in a delinquent tax sale, and the purchaser became concerned when he saw the car out front in the same place for months.
Inside, they found a body that they believe was Merchant. According to investigators, she passed away in October of 2007. Says Porth, "The world we live in now, of course, everyone is so busy, and your neighbor doesn't have time for you."
Porth believed Merchant graduated from Newberry College in 1955. She was married to a man named David, who died in 1986.
David was a corrections officer and investigators say he feared inmates once they were released. They say that is why the Merchants led a private life.
"They would possibly come looking for him, thinking that he may have something, the reason why they were in the corrections center," explains Porth.
Authorities found Merchant's sister-in-law in Newberry County, who told them Merchant talked to her about moving closer. But it had been awhile since they last spoke, and Merchant's sister-in-law discovered the woman's phone had been disconnected.
"She only assumed that she might have had it cut off and got a cell phone instead," Porth says.
For him, the only thing that may redeem Merchant's tragic story is for the community in Calhoun County to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Investigators believe Merchant died of natural causes. We're also told she had a dog, whose body was found near hers.
If you have any information about someone who may be family of Merchant, call the Coroner's Office at 803-655-5636.
3/31/2009 1:15:31 PM
