LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. — The Lexington County Coroner's Office has identified a man whose body was found in Lake Murray Friday following what authorities confirm was a vehicle crash days earlier.
According to a Lexington County Sheriff's Department spokesperson, a body was found floating in the lake near the dam around 9:30 a.m. on Friday. Authorities said the body has since been recovered.
Corporal Nick Pye with the South Carolina Highway Patrol, which is now investigating the death as the result of a crash, said it happened on Sept. 11 around 1 a.m. on North Lake Drive near Lake Murray Boulevard. Pye said authorities didn't know about the crash until a 2022 Dodge Charger vehicle was discovered on Friday. Video from the scene showed the car being removed using a crane in the following hours.
Based on what investigators have uncovered, authorities believe the Charger was heading west on North Lake Drive when it left the road to the left and overturned into Lake Murray.
In a later update, Coroner Margaret Fisher identified the deceased as 34-year-old Darius Marshe Dendy of Columbia. Dendy's body was recovered from the water around 9:50 a.m. on Friday.