Sumter County Does: Mystery Couple Solved in 2021

In the early dawn hours of Monday, August 9, 1976, a long-distance truck driver pulling onto a secluded dirt access road off Interstate 95 near Lynchburg in Sumter County, South Carolina, noticed two bodies lying side-by-side in the weeds. A young man and a young woman had both been shot execution-style in the chest, throat, and back. For forty-five years, the "Sumter County Does" were one of America's most famous mystery couples.

The Discovery, Jewelry & Distinctive Possessions

Both victims were exceptionally well-dressed and in excellent physical health. The male was 25 to 30 years old, 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 150 pounds, with olive skin and brown hair; he wore a yellow Bulova watch and an elaborate 14-karat gold star sapphire ring. The female was 20 to 25 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 105 pounds, with reddish-brown hair; she wore three handmade silver and turquoise rings.

Ballistics confirmed that both had been shot with a .357 caliber revolver. They carried no wallets, money, luggage, or vehicle keys. Extensive fingerprint runs through the FBI and Interpol yielded zero matches, sparking decades of international hypotheses that they were foreign tourists, carnival workers, or hitchhikers.

Chronological Case Timeline