Dead body found behind wheel in truck discovered in national forest, SC cops say

One person was killed when a pickup truck crashed in a national forest, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

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The single-vehicle collision happened in a portion of Francis Marion National Forest that’s in Berkeley County, said Master Trooper Hannah Davidson. Parts of the nearly 264,000-acre large national forest are also in Charleston County.

At about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, a 2016 Ford F-150 was found in a ditch inside the national forest, according to Davidson.

It’s believed that the pickup hit a tree that was already in Tiger Corner Road, Davidson said. The pickup then ran off the right side of the road and crashed into the ditch, according to Davidson.

Information about when the crash happened was not available.

The driver, who was the only person in the pickup, died at the scene, Davidson said.

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The Berkeley County Coroner’s Office has not publicly identified the driver.

No other injuries were reported.

There was no word if the driver was wearing a seatbelt, but the wreck is still be investigated by the Highway Patrol.

Through Sunday, 430 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2026, according to the state Department of Public Safety. A minimum of 914 people were killed in collisions in South Carolina in 2025, DPS data shows.

At least 19 people have died in Berkeley County crashes this year, and 34 people died in wrecks there in 2025, according to DPS data.