‘Undetermined’ manner of death in Myrtle Beach missing woman mystery. What’s that mean?
The mysterious death of a Florida college student who went missing in September from Myrtle Beach remains with more questions than answers following the reported results of her autopsy Monday.
Sheridan Wahl, 21, died from multiple blunt force injuries due to a fall, according to the Florence County Coroner’s Office, which noted she was found at the bottom of the Hannah-Salem Friendfield Fire Department’s Training Tower on Sept. 21.
The coroner ruled the manner of death as “undetermined.”
Longtime Horry County Coroner Robert Edge, speaking generally and not about this specific case, explained that there are five possible manners of death: natural, suicide, accidental, homicide and undetermined.
Undetermined, meaning that not enough information is available to say whether an outside force caused the death, is a rare determination that Edge said he’s only listed a handful of times in his 30-plus-year career, and he couldn’t remember any specifically.
“Usually (the manner) is pretty open and shut,” he said.
In the case of a death caused by a fall, Edge said a death would likely be ruled undetermined if there’s question about whether the person slipped — which would be accidental — or was pushed — which would be homicide.
He also noted that the undetermined designation can be changed later if more evidence becomes available.
Wahl was last reportedly seen alive on Sept. 19 at a moped rental store in Myrtle Beach — visiting the area to see her father — though Myrtle Beach Police Department handed the case to South Carolina Law Enforcement Division after it determined she had left the city “safely.”
Her car was later found burned in a cornfield about nine miles away from the fire department where her body was discovered. The car’s license plate was missing and the vehicle identification number was illegible, according to a police report from the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.
Wahl’s autopsy was completed in September, but the coroner was waiting on results from a toxicology report before officially determining the cause and manner and death.
Edge said his office seeks toxicology reports, which are relatively inexpensive, in almost all death investigations as a matter of policy in order to cover their bases, and it doesn’t necessarily mean they have any evidence to suspect drug use.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 2:34 PM.
