Beaufort Police broke a window to access the vehicle after a family reportedly noticed the man was unresponsive
By Delayna Earley and Amber Hewitt
The Island News
BEAUFORT — A man was found dead inside a vehicle near the Beaufort waterfront Saturday morning, Oct. 31, after a family noticed he was not moving and contacted police, according to a witness at the scene.
The Beaufort Police Department responded to the parking lot near the playground at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, where the man was found inside a gray Jeep Renegade bearing a Florida license plate.
David Fisher, who said he provided a statement to police, told The Island News he first noticed the man inside the Jeep shortly after 10 a.m. while walking to a nearby restaurant.
Fisher said the driver’s seat was reclined and the man appeared to be sleeping.
“I didn’t think anything of it,” Fisher said.
According to Fisher, a couple visiting the nearby playground with their child later noticed the man was unresponsive and called police.
Officers broke the Jeep’s front passenger-side window to gain access to the vehicle.
Fisher said officers spoke with witnesses, and the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office also responded to the scene.
Fisher estimated the man was in his late 40s or 50s. He said he did not observe any visible blood or obvious signs of violence when he looked through the vehicle’s windows.
The man’s identity and cause of death have not been released. It is not yet known how long the vehicle had been parked at the waterfront or whether authorities suspect foul play.
The Island News has reached out to the Beaufort Police Department for additional information about the incident.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.