Investigation Update: A striking statement from in...

Investigation Update: A striking statement from investigators is drawing fresh attention to the d3ath of Elena Moore

The body of missing S.C. personal trainer Elena Moore was found near the Planet Fitness gym in Lexington, S.C., where she was last seen leaving when she vanished, police said

Elena Katherine Moore

Elena Moore; Moore shown at Planet Fitness on the day she vanished.Credit : Lexington Police Department Facebook

Authorities are still trying to determine how South Carolina personal trainer Elena Moore died after her body was found in a wooded area about two miles from the gym where she was last seen.

On Monday, June 22, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher released a statement saying that an autopsy conducted on Moore, 39, did not identify an immediate cause of death.

The Coroner’s Office identified Moore’s body on Friday, June 19.

Fisher released the preliminary findings from the forensic autopsy, which was conducted on Sat., June 20, at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston.

Examination of the body revealed no evidence of traumatic injury, including no bruising, lacerations, gunshot wounds, stab wounds, blunt force trauma, strangulation or other external injuries, Fisher said in the statement.

“As a result, the cause of death remains pending at this time,” she said in the statement.

Additional evaluation is required, including histological studies, review of medical records and toxicology testing.

A week before Moore went missing, a video of her appearing disoriented began circulating on social media.

In the video, which was captured on Ring camera footage and shown on local station WIS, Moore was seen picking up a bag of food a DoorDash delivery woman had just dropped off at an apartment.

When the neighbor, John Moore (no relation to Elena), opened the door, he found Moore holding the food. She handed it to him but seemed like she was going to enter the apartment, even though she didn’t know him.

John’s girlfriend, Sarah Burleson, told WIS that she was walking her dog about an hour later when she saw Moore outside of a neighbor’s apartment looking at packages that had been left there. When Burleson asked Moore what she was doing, Moore replied “Honestly? I have no idea,” Burleson said.

Moore was last seen at the Planet Fitness in Lexington on Thursday, June 11.

She was reported missing on Friday, June 12, police said in a previous statement.

Moore signed in at the gym at about 6:40 p.m. local time on June 11, NBC affiliate WIS reported.

Moore, a personal trainer at Wolf’s Fitness Center, a few miles away, was seen walking toward a wooded area behind a nearby Lowe’s Home Improvement store, where police found the body on Wednesday, ABC News reported.

Lexington Police Department Inspector Missy Silcox said that it would be “very out of character” for Moore to disappear in this manner, according to the outlet.

On Wed., June 17, Chief Terrence Green of the Lexington Police Department said at a press conference that at 2:48 p.m. that day, authorities had discovered a body belonging to a woman later identified as Moore on North Lake Road and Old Cherokee Road.

Authorities continue to investigate.

No further information will be released by the Lexington County Coroner’s Office until all pending studies have been completed and the pathologist has determined the cause and manner of death.

 

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