Multiple agencies have been searching area waterways for 33-year-old Parris Island-man based reported missing last week
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Two bodies were recovered from waterways in northern Beaufort County within hours of each other Sunday. The discoveries came as authorities continued searching for a 33-year-old man based at Parris Island who was reported missing last week.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the two separate deaths after bodies were found in Chowan Creek and the Broad River on Aug. 30. The Sheriff’s Office said the two incidents are not believed to be connected to each other.
“We actually had two different people located today deceased in waterways,” Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Danny Allen told The Island News shortly before the Sheriff’s Office announced the investigations. “But two separate cases not believed to be connected.”
The first discovery was reported at approximately 9:45 a.m., when the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received a report of a body in Chowan Creek. Deputies responded to the area and recovered the body.
Less than three hours later, at approximately 12:15 p.m., the Communications Center received a report of another body in the Broad River. Deputies responded, and the second body was recovered.
A woman who witnessed the Broad River recovery contacted The Island News at 1:55 p.m. Sunday and said the body was recovered from the water near Laurel Bay military housing. A map she provided showed the location along the Broad River behind the recreation center on the base.
The woman said she watched the recovery from a distance and saw personnel from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office and military police at the scene. She also provided video from the area and an image showing a Beaufort County Coroner’s Office vehicle leaving the scene.
The two discoveries come amid an ongoing search for Yu Wei Huo, 33, who is based at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and was last seen at approximately 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 27 in the area of the Broad River Bridge.
The Sheriff’s Office and other responding agencies have been searching for Huo since he was reported missing.
Authorities have not identified either of the people recovered Sunday, and officials have not said whether either discovery is connected to Huo’s disappearance.
Multiple agencies began searching the Broad River for Huo on Friday, Aug. 28. The search was suspended that afternoon when storms moved into the area and resumed the following morning.
Beaufort Water Search and Rescue Chief Clay Emminger told The Post and Courier that three of the agency’s boats were involved in the search Aug. 29 and crews were using side-scan radar to search the river bottom.
Officials from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island previously said the Marine Corps was cooperating with the Sheriff’s Office in the search.
The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office will release the identities of the two people recovered Sunday following notification of next of kin. The causes of death are pending autopsy results.
Allen said no additional information was immediately available because autopsies still need to be conducted and families need to be notified.
Both deaths remain under investigation by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Anyone with information can contact the Sheriff’s Office non-emergency dispatch line at 843-524-2777.
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.