A Chilling Discovery

While curiosity may have killed the cat, in the following instance, it brought a murder, which had gone unnoticed up till then, to the attention of authorities. The strange series of events began with a spur of the moment visit to a haunted house located on the outskirts of Norway, South Carolina.

On the afternoon of Sunday, January 3, 2021, eight teenagers out riding four-wheelers decided to throw caution to the wind and explore the abandoned property. When they approached the two-story ramshackle dwelling, which had sat vacant for a decade, they noted a stillness in the air that had made the hair stand up on the back of their necks. Moving closer, they saw that the windows had been broken out, presumably by vandals.

Walking around to the back of the century-old house, they spotted a stand-alone freezer on the porch. Although they hadn’t expected to find anything inside, given the lack of an electrical outlet, they cracked open the lid just to be sure. As soon as the seal was broken, a stench permeated the air that reminded them instantly of rotting meat.

When they opened the top the rest of the way, they made a horrifying discovery. Inside the old freezer was a human body, clad in PacSun blue jeans, a brown Gucchi belt, socks, and short sleeve t-shirt. Sickened by both the smell and the sight of the decomposing corpse, they slammed the lid shut and reported the grisly find to the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies who arrived on the scene a few minutes later confirmed that a body had been hidden away in the freezer. The house was cordoned off and a murder investigation launched.

Statements were taken from the teenagers who had come upon the remains completely by accident; all of whom were shaken to their core by the experience. After being cleared of any wrongdoing, they were allowed to collect their ATVs and go home to their parents.

The property owner was contacted and apprised of the situation. They cooperated fully with the investigation and were quickly ruled out as having any involvement in the crime that had taken place on their land.

The body was taken to the morgue to await autopsy. The medical examiner would later determine that the remains were those of a man who had sported a unique tattoo on his shoulder depicting a face staring up at the sun. Due to the advanced state of decomposition, no cause of death could be determined.

Two days after the body was found, the house burned to the ground overnight in a fire that authorities described as “suspicious.” With both the interior and exterior reduced to ashes, any evidence that may have been present was lost forever.

The home's former occupant, Ron Phillips, told authorities that the landlord had given his family permission to leave the freezer and a few other large items they no longer needed behind when they moved out over a decade earlier. He added that the appliance had been empty the last time he saw it back in 2020.

When asked about the house’s reputation for being the site of ghostly phenomena, Phillips said that while it certainly had “a spirit about it,” he wouldn’t go so far as to say it was haunted. He recalled that he and his family would often hear voices inside the residence with no discernible source. He also mentioned that an empty rocking chair on the second floor would move back and forth on its own during the night. Though these spooky occurrences might have put some people off, Phillips had taken them in stride. As long as whatever was behind the disturbances left his children alone, he had no problem sharing the space with the home’s unseen residents.

After releasing photos of the tattoo to the media, detectives got a break in June of 2021 when a tipster identified the victim as twenty-four-year-old Robert Fuller, who hadn’t been seen for several months.

Now that they had a name to work with, investigators went looking for known associates of Fuller’s who might have information about what happened to him in the latter part of 2020 when they believe he fell victim to foul play. Their search led them to twenty-two-year-old Kendall Dickson.

Though Dickson is not a suspect in the case, authorities do consider him a person of interest. Unfortunately, he proved to be more elusive than they had anticipated. As of this writing, he has not come forward to tell his story. With no new leads and no suspects to speak of, how Robert Fuller ended up in a freezer on the back porch of a house most residents of Norway contend is, or at least was, haunted, remains a mystery.

While one thing had little to do with the other, few could argue that the lure of a haunted house had drawn the teenagers to the property, which in turn led to the discovery of Fuller’s body. Had the curious group not decided to check out the local legend that day, who knows how long the remains would have stayed locked away in the freezer. The area was off the beaten path and seldom traveled, making it the perfect spot to hide a body. The killer(s), whoever they are, had used the house’s isolation to their advantage. Though they haven’t been held accountable just yet, thanks to an octet of amateur ghost hunters, they will spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders, waiting for the law to finally catch up with them.

Resources: mpproject.org, thestate.com, kahanelaw.com, abccolumbia.com, wltx.com