In 1984, SCE&G workers made an unanticipated discovery on Main Street behind Kress. Today, questions linger.
A Surprising Discovery
On a warm August day in 1984, work crews with South Carolina Electric & Gas stumbled upon something unusual behind the Kress building in downtown Columbia. A crew member paused to pull up what looked like a stick - but turned out to be a human leg bone. The crew, startled, stopped work and called the Columbia Police Department. The police, in turn, called the Richland County Coroner’s office and forensic anthropologist Ted Rathbun from the University of South Carolina to the scene to investigate further. After spending over 12 hours bent over behind Kress slowly and carefully removing soil from the bones, Dr. Rathbun found a mostly complete human skeleton, minus its skull, which had been lying quietly in the narrow alley behind Kress without anyone noticing for quite some time.
In front of everyone’s eyes, a mystery had slowly appeared. It was a cold case, very cold.
But clues emerged that gave investigators some facts about the case. First, Dr. Rathbun estimated that the skeleton belonged to a medium-height and muscular man, about 34 to 46 years old, who had been dead for as much as 50 years.
Second, Columbia Police Commander Charles R. Clark estimated that the spot where the body had lain, near a juncture of two alleys leading from Main to Hampton Streets behind Kress, had been the site of previous construction projects, based on the presence of layers of cement, fill dirt, and old water lines.
And third, Richland County Chief Deputy Coroner Jim Anasti said the remains were found about three feet under the present surface and had been covered, over time, with brick and paving materials.
Dr. Rathbun carefully removed and labeled each bone and placed them in plastic bags for further analysis at the University. Here, he would attempt to determine the man’s race, age, and, possibly, the cause of death. And the Columbia police would investigate the dates of previous construction in the area to try to determine how the brick fill got placed above the skeleton.
Theories Evolve
A local historian, Russell Maxey, offered a theory that the remains could have been associated with the McCormick Funeral Home, which had been on the site many years ago and had been demolished in the 1950s to make way for a new Southern Bell office.
Police were initially inclined to agree with Maxey that the body was related to the erstwhile funeral home. But, the next day, and after further analysis of the scene, Richland County Coroner Frank Barron stated that he suspected foul play. Barron was quoted, “That body is probably a body someone wanted to get rid of without being caught, and that usually means murder.” The body, it appeared, was placed in a construction hole and was likely covered by nearby construction debris.
“That body is probably a body someone wanted to get rid of without being caught, and that usually means murder.”
Puzzling investigators was the fact that the skull and right arm were not found with the body. They did not know if the body had been placed in the hole without the skull and arm, or if they had been disturbed by future construction in the area. They did determine that the construction hole was likely open at the time the body was placed in it, and it likely offered a convenient place to hide a body.
The Tip
While investigators continued their search, older citizens called in with tips. One, an 81-year-old man, said that a gambler had gone missing in Columbia some years ago. The 81-year-old tipster would not leave his name, lest he be implicated in the murder or endangered by any surviving perpetrators.
When investigators followed up on the tip about the gambler, they discovered that locals remembered that several decades ago a man by the name of Harold Rogers had indeed disappeared. But without today’s digital newspapers or DNA analysis available, investigators had a difficult time following up on their lead. At the time, they acknowledged they would have little way to really identify the man, even if his skull could be located.
Dr. Rathbun concluded his report by estimating that the remains had belonged to a right-handed, muscular man, likely white, between 34 and 42 years old. He had been 5-feet 8-inches to 5-feet 10-inches tall. A few teeth found at the site led Rathbun to conclude that he had been buried with his head attached, but that later construction and disturbance likely removed the skull and arm from the body.
Officer Clark concluded, “He didn’t get in the hole and cover himself up.” The man had been placed hastily in the hole without any clothing. The lack of buttons, zippers, or any items related to the body would make it difficult to determine more about the deceased. The body did not provide any clues as to how the victim met his end. So, investigators were left with an unsolved mystery and little further to go on.
Newspaper Archives
But following this discovery in 1984, curious journalists dug through archival newspapers in search of articles that could potentially shed some light on the missing gambler theory. Reporters for The State discovered that on July 7, 1949, well-known Columbia nightclub owner Harold L. Rogers vanished without a trace and was never heard from again. At the time, Rogers’ new Packard was found on the 1300 block of Senate Street with his coat lying on the back seat. Articles from 1949 in The State quoted Richland County Solicitor T. Pou Taylor as stating, “all emphasis is on the fact that foul play was involved” in Rogers’ disappearance.
“...all emphasis is on the fact that foul play was involved.”
Articles from 1949 also provided details that Mr. Rogers, who owned the White Heart night club on Rosewood Drive, had told his business partner that he had been followed home by four men the night before he disappeared. Rogers had also reportedly paid a gambling debt just before he went missing. Rogers had evidently come into some winnings, and the new car and recently paid debts would have tipped off any local nefarious characters that Rogers was possibly carrying large amounts of cash.
Rogers’ family, including a brother, sister, and mother who all lived with him in Columbia, were concerned that he may have been killed and his body dumped. In fact, the 1920 US Census indicates that Rogers was the oldest of at least 7 children of A. Mitchell and Mary Josephine Rogers, so there were many to raise a concern. They urged police to drag the ponds in or near the city in case his remains had been hidden beneath the water. But despite the search, Rogers, or his remains, were nowhere to be found.
Unsettled Conclusions
In 1984, reporters were able to interview self-described gambler W. W. “Whiz” Walker of Columbia, then in his 80s, who remembered Rogers and called him “a dear, dear friend.” But Walker, and Harold Roger’s surviving brother, Joseph Rogers, didn’t believe that the skeleton found behind Kress could belong to Harold Rogers. Harold, they recalled, was slender, whereas Dr. Rathbun concluded the deceased man had been muscular based on the bones’ density. Also, Rogers was 47 when he disappeared, and Dr. Rathbun’s initial observation placed the age of the skeleton as a little younger. This mismatch in the skeleton and Rogers’ physical characteristics led investigators to leave the case marked "unsolved."
Regardless of whether the skeleton belonged to Harold Rogers, his friend Whiz Walker was certain that Harold had met his demise over money in Columbia in the summer of 1949. And his family was left to wonder what happened to their loved one for the remainder of their lives.
Questions Linger
Ok, so I have some questions. In my mind, it’s hard to believe that the skeleton, missing its arm and head, could have been ruled out so definitively as Rogers. There are only slight mismatches. Perhaps today’s DNA analysis tools could solve this long-lying mystery? Does the University still have the remains so carefully removed and cataloged by Dr. Rathbun? If so, I believe that new technology could provide an answer to this long cold case.
After all, there is no statute of limitations on murder. And there is no point that we should stop trying to mark a missing person as found.
Research for this post was made using various Richland Library resources below.
Archival Sources
Images and Maps:
- Images from The State Newspaper Photograph Archive and Columbia Architectural Survey in the special collections at Richland Library, Columbia, S.C.
- Map sections from Sanborn Fire Insurance maps of Columbia, S.C., 1950 and 1956.
Newspaper articles:
- “Anthropologist tries to fit pieces of skeletal puzzle,” The State, August 2, 1984, pages 1C, 12C.
- “Anthropologists continue search for skeleton: Body found in Main Street alley believed buried 50 years ago,” Columbia Record, August 2, 1984, pages 1C, 3C.
- “Skeleton possibly was slain,” The State, August 3, 1984, page 2C.
- “Officer’s beat took him over grave ‘million times,’” Columbia Record, August 3, 1984, pages 1C, 2C.
- “Anthropologist digs for skeleton clues,” The State, August 5, 1984, page 2C.
- “Tip points to missing gambler in bones caper,” The State, August 7, 1984, pages 1C, 5C.
- “Bones rekindle case of missing nightclub owner,” The State, August 8, 1984, pages 1A, 4A.
- “Downtown skeleton case ‘back to ground zero’ after lead falls through,” Columbia Record, September 14, 1984, page C1.
- “Scientist says bones probably not gambler’s,” The State, September 15, 1984, page 1B.
- “Pond dragged in search for Rogers,” Columbia Record, July 28, 1949, page 5C.
- “No progress made in hunt for Rogers,” The State, July 15, 1949 page 6C.
