EUTAWVILLE -- Investigators believe a Cross resident was shot to death elsewhere before his body was dumped and discovered in eastern Orangeburg County.

Thomas Law, 24, was found early Monday in a roadway. He had been shot several times.

Maj. Barbara Walters of the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office said officers converged on the location less than a mile from the Berkeley County line after a passing motorist notified law enforcement.

"Dispatch received a call on 3-31-03 at approximately 6:30 a.m. from a Eutawville resident stating that there was what appeared to be the body of a white male laying in the roadway on Nelson Ferry Road," Walters said. "Upon arrival, deputies found a white male, deceased from what appeared to be gunshot wounds."

Walters said the victim was found wearing a blue shirt, pants and black boots, but added "there was no identification on the victim."

Using a forensic method of taking an imprint of the entire hand, police were able to establish an identify by running the print through the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

"Through the forensic processing of the scene, we were able to identify the victim through AFIS at SLED," Walters said. "There were no witnesses, and right now, we don't have a motive."

OCSO investigators have concluded there is a possibility the victim was killed in another county before the body was dropped off in eastern Orangeburg County.

"After a thorough investigation, it has been determined that the victim was placed in the location that he was found," Walters said. "It is believed that the crime actually took place at another location. Our investigators, along with those of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office, will be working a joint investigation to establish the actual location of the crime scene."

Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt was not available for comment Tuesday.

Walters said that because of the consistent amount of traffic usually seen on Nelson Ferry Road, investigators believe Law had not been dead long before he was discovered.

"We believe he was put there some time Sunday," she said. "This is a roadway that a lot of people travel, so we feel that he was placed there sometime in between Sunday night and Monday morning."

OCSO Detective Keith Bonnette and Sgt. Kenny Kinsey are leading the investigation on the Orangeburg side of the county line.

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5516.

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