Stephen Smith’s body to be exhumed

The body of a young South Carolina man who died mysteriously just a few miles from the infamous Murdaugh family’s home is set to be exhumed, his family has said Friday.

Stephen Smith’s family announced that they will exhume his body for an independent autopsy after his July 8, 2015, death received renewed attention during Alex Murdaugh’s trial, WYFF reported.

The move comes more than seven years after Smith, 19, was found dead on Sandy Run Road outside Hampton County, not far from the Moselle estate where Alex Murdaugh gunned down his wife and son six years later.

At the time, his death was ruled a hit-and-run, but authorities reopened the investigation into Smith’s death in June 2021 based on information uncovered during the investigation into the shooting deaths of Murdaugh’s wife Maggie and son Paul earlier that month.

Authorities have never publicly disclosed whether there was a link between Smith’s death and the Murdaugh family, but some witnesses have speculated about possible foul play involving Smith’s classmate, Buster, the eldest Murdaugh son.

Smith’s mother Sandy shared on a GoFundMe page Thursday that she had raised enough funds to exhume her son’s body, WYFF reported. The GoFundMe initially aimed to raise $15,000. As of Friday morning, it had raked in more than $40,000.

“Our family is so very grateful to all of you who came together to help us in our fight for justice for Stephen. I could not have imagined when we began this fundraiser that it would take off the way that it did. Thank you for not allowing Stephen’s story to be swept under a rug,” Sandy Smith wrote in an update on Thursday.

After Murdaugh was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for killing Maggie and Paul earlier this month, Sandy said she was relieved to see the legal scion behind bars.

“That jury done excellent. They seen through the lies and a Murdaugh is finally brought down,” she told The Post.

“Now that this case is back over, they can get on Stephen’s case full-time.”