Two years later, remains found by metal hunter at Murrells Inlet park identified
MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WPDE) — Human remains found along the Murrells Inlet bike path in November 2018 have been identified, according to the Georgetown County Coroner's Office.
Chase Ridgeway, with the coroner's office, said the remains belong to David Scott Woolslayer, who was reported missing in June 2018.
Ridgeway said the cause of death is undetermined and that the positive ID was made using DNA in August.
Woolslayer was 52 when he was reported missing to the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office (GCSO).
Woolslayer's remains were found by Bryan Jarvis in November 2018 when Jarvis was out enjoying one of his favorite past times.
"Metal detecting. It finally got cool enough that the bugs were gone, so I decided I'd go in the woods," said Jarvis at the time.
Jarvis didn't know his trip into the woods would end in an investigation.
He normally wouldn't even be metal detecting in that area. He says he usually goes to Georgetown, but Murrells Inlet was calling him Wednesday and he ended up calling police after he found a skull, some bones, socks and shoes.
An incident report from the GCSO stated that on June 5, 2018, the person who made the report, who is not identified, left for work around 8:30 a.m. and that was the last time she saw Woolslayer. A second person at the home said when he woke up to get ready for work, he heard Woolslayer in the house, but when he was finished, Woolslayer was not in the home.
None of the family friends in the neighborhood had seen Woolslayer that day either.
The report stated that he left behind his cell phone, wallet, keys, car and normal work boots.
The person who made the report told deputies that she checked all of Woolslayer's usual hanging spots with no results and all hospitals were all checked.
In the report, it did state that Woolslayer had a history of fainting and that he was depressed, but had never made threats to harm himself.
Jarvis told ABC15 on Tuesday that he is glad the person has been identified.
"I get asked probably once a month from my customers wanting to know if they had ever identified the bones," he said. "I just assumed they probably had been identified and it never made the news. I'm glad it is finally been resolved, but I still wonder what happened to him, why he was in the woods, etc."
