Aiken County, SC – An Aiken woman is dead after a vehicle fire in Aiken County. The Eureka Fire Department responded to a blaze this morning on Lake Shore Drive and later uncovered a burned vehicle in the woods. A body was found in the vehicle which has been identified as 68-year-old Millie Gantt.
The residents of Lake Shore Drive say that part of town is very quiet. One homeowner says she saw the small brush fire when she was on her way to church this morning, but didn’t think anything of it.
Around 10 o’clock Sunday morning, Brenda Mode was leaving her home when she noticed something in the woods about 50 yards from her property.
“When I went to go get in my car. I seen a small fire and our neighbors down there, Jonathan Breco, he’s a firefighter so I thought I would stop by their house because I didn’t feel like we were to call 911 because it wasn’t a big fire, just a small fire,” Mode said.
After making it halfway up Lake Shore Drive, she decided to turn around and check out the fire for herself.
“And when I come back I go down thru there and walk through the woods and there’s a car there,” said Mode.
Mode was the first to see the blaze, but not very long after a few other neighbors walked up. They all noticed a Toyota Camry was burned in the woods.
“I told that man. I said would you please look in the car and see if anybody is in the car. He said no there’s not anybody in the car,” Mode told News Channel 6.
Even though they didn’t see a body, the Eureka Fire Department did. Authorities have identified the body as 68-year-old Millie Gantt. They say she left her home Sunday morning and hadn’t been seen since. Investigators still don’t know how her car ended up in the woods.
“Tore the mirrors off the car and everything else. They were going pretty fast, because when we walked up in there you could see where the tire, where the car had bounced all up through the woods,” Mode said.
The Aiken County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the death. The coroner says no foul play is suspected. An autopsy of Millie Gantt is scheduled for tomorrow in Newberry, South Carolina.
