Missing boater found in Lake Murray is identified by Lexington County coroner
The body of a missing boater was recovered in Lake Murray after more than a week of searching, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said Thursday.
Terrance Dealta Butler, a 31-year-old Edgefield resident, by the South Carolina DNR, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher.
His body was recovered Wednesday at about 7:30 a.m., South Carolina DNR spokesman Stephen Fastenau told The State.
The 10-day search ended when members of the South Carolina DNR surface team found the body near Dreher Island State Park in the Lexington County portion of Lake Murray, Fastenau said. The surface team worked in groups of at least six members as they, along with divers and South Carolina DNR aviation, spent at least 12 hours a day looking for the missing boater since the search began Aug. 1, according to Fastenau.
Although the body was found near the tournament ramp in Newberry County, Fisher said her office was involved because Butler went in the water near Ivy Link Road in Leesville, which is in Lexington County.
No cause of death has been released, but Butler, who was last seen July 31, was described as a possible drowning victim, according to an Aug. 2 news release from South Carolina DNR.
It was late in the afternoon when Butler was on a pontoon boat with friends and jumped into the water but did not resurface, according to South Carolina DNR. The missing boater was last seen in the area near Acapulco Island and Dreher Island State Park.
Information on the depth of the water in that area of the lake was not available.
An autopsy will be performed Thursday and the results will be released as soon as they are received, Fisher said.
The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department also assisted in the search.
Butler’s death remains under investigation by South Carolina DNR.
This was not the first search for a missing boater in Lake Murray this year.
About two weeks earlier, the body of a 72-year-old Saluda man was recovered July 20, the day after he fell off a boat and disappeared in Lake Murray. The body was found in the area of the lake near Little River Landing, the Saluda County Coroner’s Office said.
In June, the DNR said it recovered the body of a missing boater near the Lake Murray dam. Officials said the death was an accidental drowning, WPDE reported.
In April, the DNR dive team recovered the body of a male boater after he fell overboard around Buffalo Creek near the Grant Williams Estates, the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office said. The man was a Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, resident who was visiting Lake Murray with his wife, according to DNR.
In late 2021, the body of another man who went missing on Lake Murray was recovered after several days.
On Oct. 26, a 36-year-old man disappeared after he got on his boat at a Lake Murray marina off U.S. 378 about 3 a.m., law enforcement officers told The State. The boat was found near Spence’s Point, but it wasn’t until Nov. 6 that his body was recovered. The Lexington County Coroner’s Office said no foul play was suspected.
