Investigators have identified the body of Steven C. Carpenter, 63, of Magnetic Springs, found dead Sunday in Bokes Creek. Carpenter was last seen in November.
(Photo submitted)
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A 63-year-old Magnetic Springs man was found dead Sunday in a local creek.
Lance Emberling with the Union County Coroner’s Office confirmed that Steven C. Carpenter, 63, of Magnetic Springs, was found dead Sunday in Bokes Creek.
Officials said that at about 11:46 a.m., Sunday, the Union County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call reporting a possible body floating in Bokes Creek just west of the Route 37 bridge in Magnetic Springs.
The caller, an individual who lived in the area, had been burning trash and walked to the creek when he saw the body in the creek.
Deputies, along with responders from the Northwestern Fire District and the Marysville Fire Department, arrived at the scene and found a body floating, face down, along the south bank of the creek. First responders entered the creek and confirmed the victim was deceased.
Emberling said the man was identified at the creek as Carpenter.
“With the information we had on scene, we were able to identify him as the missing person,” Emberling said.
Officials said Carpenter was last seen Nov. 24. They said he was not hunting or hiking and had no readily explainable reason to be at the creek. He was reported missing Dec. 1.
“The investigation into Carpenter’s disappearance had been on-going since he was reported missing,” according to a report from the Union County Sheriff’s Office. “Deputies and detectives had previously searched Bokes Creek area on foot and by drone on December 2, 2023.”
Emberling said he and other investigators checked missing person databases and contacted other nearby or connected counties to see if they had any unidentified bodies matching Carpenter’s description.
Emberling said there was “no obvious sign of trauma.” He said the cause and time of death could not yet be determined. He said the body was transported to the Montgomery County Morgue for autopsy.
“We are working with Montgomery County to see if they can give us a timeline of how long he had been in the water,” Emberling said, explaining that the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office has some capabilities that Union County does not have.
Officials from the sheriff’s and coroner’s offices have been working to determine “the circumstances surrounding Carpenter’s disappearance and death.”
“Both offices are working together to try to get a story line to see who actually saw him last, when, how he was acting,” Emberling said.