Body Of Missing South Carolina Sophomore Found In A Pond After Stumbling Out Of Party

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The body of Jerrell White, a missing 22-year-old student from South Carolina, has been found in a pond four days after he disappeared after stumbling out of a 4th of July party.

White, 22, was last seen on surveillance footage scaling a fence in Lancaster, South Carolina after leaving the holiday party. According to friends and family, White had become embroiled in an argument when he decided to leave. Authorities were searching for him for four days until his body was found.

Search crews, which included Lancaster County sheriff’s deputies, city and county firefighters, and emergency medical services crews, spent three days in deeply wooded areas searching for White.

On Monday, July 10, police recovered a body from a pond near to where he was seen climbing over the fence. It was later identified to be White.

via WSOC:

In surveillance video obtained Friday by Channel 9, White is seen walking down a neighbor’s driveway, climbing over a fence and falling to the ground on the other side. He gets up and stumbles out of the view of the camera. The sheriff said the pond is near the fence where White was last seen.

White’s cellphone was found on the ground where he scaled the fence and his broken eyeglasses were found in the driveway of the house that hosted the party.

White was discovered by family members who were wondering how authorities missed that spot in the search. Crews searched another nearby pond using sonar. They didn’t do the same for the pond where White was found.

Sheriff’s Office officials said they had no indication he’d gone in that direction. They still walked around that area in search for White.

Benedict College, in Columbia, South Carolina, called White “bright and talented young man” in a Facebook post.

The Lancaster County Coroner’s office said it could take days before they determine a cause of death.