Clarendon County Deputy Coroner Bucky Mock said that an autopsy performed Tuesday in Charleston on the body of Joseph Cutter showed that the 47-year-old died Sunday from drowning.
Cutter was allegedly fishing off the U.S. 15 and 301 walking bridge between Clarendon and Orangeburg counties when he told friends he was going to jump into the water about 4 p.m. Friends became concerned when he didn't resurface, and 911 was alerted shortly thereafter. First responders with the Clarendon County Fire Department and Sheriff's Office, along with EMS and the state Department of Natural Resources recovered Cutter's body about 5:15 p.m. Sunday.
Mock said Sunday that an official cause of death could not be determined, but that the area in which Cutter's body was found was shallow. Sheriff Tim Baxley advised residents that not only is it against the law to jump from the bridge, but that you never know what's underneath the water.
"Someone could have thrown something in there, and you cannot see below the surface to know how deep it is," he said. "It's dangerous to jump into any water you can't see under."
