Human remains in shallow grave may belong to man missing since 2015, SC officials say
A South Carolina man vanished in 2015, and human bones that were just found in a shallow grave may belong to him, officials said.
The skeletal remains could be linked to Emmanuel Quarles, who was 26 years old when he got into a vehicle and disappeared on April 20, 2015. His blood was later found in the abandoned truck of the person he was last seen with, according to the S.C. Attorney General’s Office.
Though Quarles’ body hadn’t been located yet, the owner of the truck was charged with murder in 2019, WSPA reported. State officials in a news release didn’t list attorney information for the suspect, identified as 48-year-old Kerry Cobb of Seneca.
At the time, Quarles’ mother reportedly had hope that she would someday find her son.
“It’s real hard, but to me I don’t consider him as gone,” his mother, Pamela Quarles, told WSPA. “I consider him as out there and he’s searching and looking for me.”
Then, nearly eight years after Quarles went missing from outside his Pendleton home, possible clues surfaced on April 19.
“The person charged with his murder led members of the Attorney General’s Office and law enforcement officers to an area where suspected human bones were recovered,” state officials wrote. “The bones will be tested at SLED (S.C. Law Enforcement Division) to confirm that they do in fact belong to Emmanuel Quarles.”
The remains were found just days before Cobb was set to go to court in the homicide case. Officials reported using dogs to help in a three-day search for bones ahead of his April 24 murder trial.
In response to the attorney general’s announcement, the Oconee County County Coroner’s Office said human remains were found near Seneca, a town roughly 35 miles southwest of Greenville and 10 miles from where Quarles went missing. The person’s death reportedly is “being treated as a homicide.”
“The remains are those of a male; they were skeletonized and found in a shallow grave,” the coroner’s office wrote in a news release. “A post mortem examination will be conducted on Friday in an attempt to determine a cause of death. Further studies will also be required prior to making a positive identification of these remains.”
Though the deceased person wasn’t identified in news releases, the Attorney General’s Office said the recent discovery “hopefully will begin to bring (Quarles’ family) some closure to eight years of not knowing what happened to their loved one.”
After the remains were found, officials expect there will be a plea in the case.
This story was originally published April 20, 2023 at 9:21 AM with the headline "Human remains in shallow grave may belong to man missing since 2015, SC officials say."
