Body found in woods
Family awaits word if person is missing woman
MONCKS CORNER — Family members and friends of a missing Berkeley County woman huddled in a yard wondering if the body authorities soon would bring out of the woods across the road was that of Teresa Jo Moore.
The Post and Courier
Berkeley County officials work at a scene Monday on South Live Oak Drive in Moncks Corner near where a body was found in the woods.
Moore, 45, has epilepsy and has been missing since May 6, her brother Steve Hammond said.
Hammond said he last saw his sister, who lives next door to him and goes by the name Terry, walking down the driveway of their property on Autumn Lane. He thought she was going to the mailbox.
But family members later realized that she hadn't returned home. A friend told the family he had seen Moore walking on U.S. Highway 17A toward Moncks Corner with a Hispanic man on a red bicycle, Hammond said.
He also said authorities told family members and friends gathered Monday that they wouldn't be allowed to see the body crime scene officials brought out of the woods.
But the group stood by and watched anyway.
They wanted to be respectful in case it was Terry, Hammond said.
After authorities removed the body from the woods, Hammond said that now "it's just a matter of sitting and waiting by the phone."
Video
Body found near Highway 17A
Family members and friends of Teresa Jo Moore, 45, missing since May 6, wait as authorities bring a body out of the woods. A man riding a bicycle found the body around 9:45 a.m. Monday, said Dan Moon, public information officer for the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office. The body was not immediately identified.
Dan Moon, public information officer for the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office, said the body "is in pretty bad shape."
Family members gave investigators Moore's hairbrush to get a sample of her DNA, Moon said. They will use it to help them determine if the badly decomposed body is Moore's.
Moon said that a person riding a bicycle found the body in the woods about 9:45 a.m. Monday across from 2441 S. Live Oak Drive, which is also U.S. 17A in that area.
The man, whose name has not been released, was being questioned by Berkeley County authorities Monday afternoon, Moon said.
Moon also said the body likely will not be identified until today after an autopsy is completed.
Tony Lynes, a close friend of Terry Moore and her husband, Earl, said he and Earl Moore have been looking for Terry for weeks. The pair has distributed handmade fliers with Terry's photograph on them encouraging people to call with any information about her disappearance, Lynes said.
He also said people close to Terry suspect that her wandering off was connected to problems with medication she takes for epilepsy.
On Monday morning, Lynes said he and Earl Moore asked a man on a bicycle about two miles from where the body was found, if he had seen Terry. He said he hadn't, Lynes said.
About 20 minutes later, Lynes said he got a call from someone who lives at 2441 S. Live Oak Drive. The caller said a man on a bicycle had stopped across the road, got off the bike and went into the woods to relieve himself, Lynes said.
The man on the bike was the same person he and Earl Moore had stopped earlier, Lynes said. While in the woods, the man came across a body. He then walked to the house across the road to call authorities, Lynes said.
The residents of the home had Lynes' cell phone number because he had canvassed the area looking for information about Terry and had left his number with them.
Steve Hammond said his family has had more than its share of tragedy lately.
About two years ago, his brother Marcus Hammond was slain outside Bobo's Deli and Grill on James Island. Authorities said Marcus Hammond was shot twice by Randall Mohning, a man who previously dated Marcus Hammond's girlfriend. Mohning later killed himself in Iowa.
Noah Haglund contributed to this report.
Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
SomeTruthPlease (anonymous) says...
This is VERY, VERY SUSPICIOUS. The man on the bicycle knows more than he lets on. Sounds to me that he wanted to be the hero that found her, but he's nothing more than the man who put her there.
May 20, 2008 at 7:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
suec (anonymous) says...
Yep
May 20, 2008 at 7:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
number1volsfan1 (anonymous) says...
This really stinks. Where was the local media the 7th of May? I stay in touch with local news events, and nothing was printed or broadcast until yesterday.
It is very sad the local media can't mention a missing woman (who is taking medication), but will print the "Lizard Man" story on the front page the day after the embarrassing myth is circulated.
May 20, 2008 at 7:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Chief_SittingBull (anonymous) says...
The way the story is written is really scattered. So is the "man on a bicycle who had stopped across the road" the same as the "Hispanic man on a red bicycle?"
May 20, 2008 at 7:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ln1959 (anonymous) says...
Chief_SittingBull...
That same question comes to mind.
May 20, 2008 at 8:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Chief_SittingBull (anonymous) says...
I would find it odd if it were said that Terry was cited with a Hispanic man on a bicycle and the same man suddenly resurfaced; the husband and his trusted friend came face to face with the guy and all he [they] did was ask the guy: on the bicycle "Have you seen my wife or have you seen this woman?"
If this Hispanic man had done it or not I would like to think my emotional state would not have allowed me to be so passive or apprehensive to react out of anger/frustration given there was a possibility that "he" was last seen with her. It is an odd story and the husband and friend in my opinion had an odd reaction to the "bicycle man."
So that's why I asked that question.
May 20, 2008 at 8:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
armymom (anonymous) says...
Why did they tell us she was seen with an hispanic man on a bike, then tell us about a man on a bike who found her, but not tell us whether or not he was hispanic? What the heck is the deal with the ppl who write these stories???
May 20, 2008 at 8:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RTC (anonymous) says...
Early, a seizure is usually not fatal, but it can be if severe enough.
Crime scene officials removed the body, so it is hard to tell at this point whether the death was by natural causes or not.
This is a rather odd story.
May 20, 2008 at 8:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
number1volsfan1 (anonymous) says...
An epileptic "seizure" is not a "fit". Enough with the stereotypes already.
May 20, 2008 at 9:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
suec (anonymous) says...
too much political correctness
It's a word. Seizure, fit, spell, episode, whatever...
Peoeple are too easily offended. Or maybe they just get a kick out of telling others how to speak.
May 20, 2008 at 9:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RTC (anonymous) says...
suec, you hit the proverbial nail on the head.
Someone used the word "retarded" on another post. I am surprised that they haven't been bashed yet.
May 20, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
carolinamommyof4 (anonymous) says...
This is the EXACT location that Teresa Jo Moore was last seen. There was an article yesterday about her disapperance. WHY didnt the sheriffs office look there? As a matter of fact, the person that lives in the address listed was the one who told her husband and authorities that she was last seen "right there". Even pointed the spot out....
A little side note. The person on the bike that was with her last WAS the person who found her. He is a rather "slow" fellow that frequently rides this rode.
RIP and my condolences to the family
May 20, 2008 at 10:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
carolinamommyof4 (anonymous) says...
*sorry typo...meant road
May 20, 2008 at 10:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Girleygirl (anonymous) says...
Something is very odd about this story. I mean the PC just printed the story yesterday about the missing lady, but we don't even know if this is the same lady. My prayers are with the families involved......
May 20, 2008 at 10:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
suec (anonymous) says...
Why didn't the family look there if they knew that was where she was last seen?
May 20, 2008 at 10:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Shaynan (anonymous) says...
The newspaper notice didn't appear until May 18. A neighbor told me that family and friends had been trying since she went missing to get a notice posted in the paper, but their request was ignored/refused. What a tragedy! If more people had known a sickly woman was missing two weeks ago, perhaps someone could have found her before she died/was killed...?
May 20, 2008 at 10:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dwfrance (anonymous) says...
why was there no search for her around her house by authorities when she came up missing...that's sad and unacceptable
May 20, 2008 at 11:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JohnS (anonymous) says...
It does not make sense why she was found in the woods unless someone put her there.
Justin Turner was found in a camper that had already been searched the day before. I think his step mother did it. Still unsolved for almost 20 years.
May 20, 2008 at 11:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
luvmydogs59 (anonymous) says...
I just spoke to a friend who is a neighbor of the missing woman. She told me that there were always a lot of fights going on at the house and that the family of Terry told her that they wanted to get her out of the house and get rid of her. They stole her money, medications, etc. They wouldn't let her eat...my friend told me that Terry would go to my friends mothers home to eat. She was severely underweight from lack of food and was having problems because the family would not give her access to her medicine. She also had psychiatric problems as well as epilepsy.
The family told my friend that they weren't going to report it until they felt like it.
What a shame...a damn shame. And nothing will be done to her family who contributed to Terry's problems.
May 21, 2008 at 12:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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