SUSSEX
The discovery of the body of a Franklin man in Sussex County on the afternoon of Jan. 12 has been confirmed by Sussex County Sheriff Earnest L. Giles Sr.

Kenneth Moore, 36, was found — the sheriff told the newspaper on Wednesday — when a hunter looking for his dog tracked it near the gate of a hunting path. He saw trash bags and what he first thought was a stuffed dummy. Walking closer, the man discovered it was a human body. This was located in a water-filled ditch off Route 35 about 1-1/2 miles north of the Sussex/Southampton line. 

“The hunter immediately contacted the sheriff’s office,” said Giles. “The call came in to dispatch at 10:43 a.m. as an unresponsive body. The caller didn’t touch the body. When my patrol deputies arrived at 10:55 a.m., they summoned a rescue squad. The deputies determined the body was dead.”

Identification was found in a pocket showing the person was Moore, who lived on Sycamore Street.

He was found with a laceration to his neck and had bled out. But investigation showed that Moore had been killed elsewhere and his body apparently brought to the site. He had been dead within several hours of discovery.

The body was taken to a medical examiner in Richmond, and was released to the family for burial.

Giles said the department investigators are working on leads, and asked that anyone with leads to please contact Investigators Derrick McKenzie or John Ogburn at 434-246-5361.