Family reaches out for answers to brother's 22-year-old death

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A local family is still looking for answers about who killed their son and brother 22 years after the incident. Frderick "Billy" Hilton, 30, was found dead April 12, 1995, in his car alongside Syrup Mill Road off S.C. 260 near first and second water. He was burned beyond recognition and, according to family members, had to be identified through dental records. In a letter sent Wednesday, surviving Hilton family members said their brother's death was ruled an accident, but that some believe his demise happened before the actual car fire. "It has been 22 years and the family still has not had closure, nor has justice been served," reads the letter. "The family is seeking answers while his parents and siblings are still alive and well." Hilton's father, William Hilton, passed away in July 2015, but his mother, Lillie Mae Hilton, and his siblings, Virginia Hilton Brock, Alfonso Hilton and Valarie Denise Hilton, are still living. "Billy, as he was called, left behind tow baby boys, Sedric Hilton and Frederick Hilton Jr.," reads the letter. "(They) are now grown and have children of their own and many, many loved ones." "The Hilton family is still grieving his death and feels in their heart of many hearts that somebody in the community knows something, whether it be just a small detail to help give the family some long-awaited answers as to what happened to their loved one," the letter reads. "The family is asking you to please come forward with any information that you have regarding this incident." The family also believes that church burnings in the mid-1990s, burnings eventually connected to the Ku Klux Klan, are not coincidental with their brother's death. "(This was in) April of 1995, during the time of the church burnings and many other criminal activities that were taking place in Clarendon County," the letter reads. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call 911. Callers may remain anonymous.