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The Item from Sumter, South Carolina • 1

Publication:
The Itemi
Location:
Sumter, South Carolina
Issue Date:
Page:
1
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

Two Youths Found Slain Near 1-95 The girl was wearing a white blouse cut-off jeans and sandals She had medium length brown hair with a reddish tint and bluish-gray eyes She was about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed about 100 pounds SHE WAS WEARING a jade ring with a black setting on her right hand and a ring with a red white and blue setting and a feather ring with a jade insert on her left hand Both bodies were sent to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston for an autopsy Sumter County Coroner Bennie Raffield said an inquest into the deaths would be held after sheriff's investigations Sheriff I Byrd Parnell asks that anyone who knows of anyone missing that fits the above description or anyone having any information about the case to call the Sumter County Department Investigation Division 775-1133 The bodies of two unidentified young people were found early this morning on a dirt road between 1-95 and US 341 near the Florence County line about 25 miles east of Sumter Both were apparently the victims of multiple bullet wounds the woman shot in the chest and her male companion in the head THEY WERE FOUND at about 6:20 a by Martin Durant Rt 1 Box 175 Lynchburg on what is known as Locklair Road Durant called Charles Graham at a nearby store and Graham called the Sumter County department Both victims were described as being white and in their early 20s The man was about 6 feet tall 150 pounds with shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes He was wearing blue jeans a red Coors T-shirt and sandals He was also wearing an Accutron watch and a gold ring with a tiger eye setting (Photo by Heyward Crowson) Roland (Ron) Foisey Coroner Bennie Raffield and Chief Deputy TL McJunkin examine the bodies which are blanked out of the picture SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES are investigating the deaths of two young people found shot to death on this dirt road Sheriff I Byrd Parnell left watches Sgt Hugh Mathis make plaster casts of tire tracks and at right Investigator Heads Toward New England Hearing Sought For Funderburk Belle Hits Outer Banks The eye of the small-but-potent storm was 70 miles out to sea churning northward at 25 miles per hour when peripheral winds of 75 miles per hour battered the Oregon Inlet just south of here Hurricane watchers at the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned that rough dangerous seas would continue washing across the beaches in the wake of the storm The hurricane watch was dropped at noon for points south of Cape Lookout Hurricane warnings NAGS HEAD NC (AP) The western edge of Hurricane 110-mile-per-hour fury whipped hurricane-force winds across North vulnerable Outer Banks at midday today but there were no early indications of serious damage However in Camden County near the Virginia line authorities said torrential rains were indirectly responsible for a truck-car collision at midmorning that killed three adults and two children on a slick highway More Charges Filed City Engineer Don Funderburk has been arrested for a second time on five new warrants for forgery Funderburk was arrested shortly bdjore 1 pm today by SLED investigator JL Bonds and WL Poulos of the Sumter County Department He was booked into the County Correctional Center at about 1:15 pm and is being held under $25000 bond Funderburk was arrested last Friday afternoon and charged with four counts of forgery and one count of obtaining money under false pretenses Bond on those charges was $25000 and Funderburk was released on bond for those charges Friday night It is not known whether more warrants are expected extended from Cape Hatteras north to Virginia Beach Va as the storm gathered speed on a northerly course that could lead it smack into Long Island or southern New England got plenty of wind 55 miles per hour gusting to said Mrs Womac whose family chose to remain in their home three-fourths of a mile from the beach at Ocracoke south of Cape Hatteras Ralph Bish and hia wife of Pittsburg Pa narrowly escaped injury when they decided to attempt an ocean-side viewfrom their fifth-floor motel room here As Mrs Bish and their two children followed him across the hall a huge picture window in the island-side room they just left shattered propelling glass across the beds where they had been lying Five motel employes fought to hold a mattress across the window while another nailed across it to hold it in place Joe Pelissier of the National Hurricane Center said Belle's most devastating winds were on the east or seaward side of the storm due to the northerly direction and counter-clockwise motion of the winds The relatively light quality of punch at the Outer Banks caused Larry Palmer 34 of Arlington Va to say he hoped his family could "get back to our (beach-front) cabin by 5 or 6 o'clock Palmer said some 1000 persons mostly vacationers sought refuge with him his wife and two children at the Kitty Hawk Elementary School north of here he said "Everybody seems to be enjoying themselves The kids have been fantastic" Waves appeared to be eight to 10 feet high but the storm passed when the tide was out and in the Nags Head area north of here the water did not surge over the sand dunes toward homes as feared At the local National Weather Service Station here hurricane watchers plsaced Belle's center 45 miles east in the Atlantic Radar indicated rain up and down the coast "Roads from Frisco to Hatteras are impassable with water up to three feet deep" the weather service reported "Some trees and wires are down on the portion of the island south of Buxton and electricity is off" Winds and rain were expected to maintain their strength for at least two hours and then subside about 1 pm according to the statement The News The disclosure comes a week after the state Dairy Commision voted to increase the dairy milk price 26 cents a hundredweight beginning Sept 1 Calvin Reeves associate professor of dairy science at Clemson says earnings in the first five months were $22 8 million That was an increase of $19 million over the same period in 1975 He said the increase amounts to more than nine per cent while production costs rose only 45 per cent Reeves says a production hike of 28 million pounds of milk during the period figured into the higher earnings On The Inside Heather The forecast locally calls for clearing Tuesday and temperatures in the mid 80s but hurricane Belle could change things More details page 3A index By BOB CRAFT And MARION ELLIOTT ITEM Staff Writers A preliminary hearing has been requested for City Engineer Don Funderburk 38 who was arrested Friday for four counts of forgery and one count of obtaining money under false pretenses in connection with alleged misappropriation of funds in his official capacity Harry "Bunt" Wilson Funderburk's attorney said today he requested a hearing when Funderburk was released on $25000 bond Friday night Neither magistrate Lang Hogon Jr nor Third Circuit Solicitor Kirk McLeod were aware of the request today "I HAVE REQUESTED a preliminary hearing A letter will be sent later this week to Magistrate Wilson said Meanwhile McLeod said he does not know when charges against Funderburk may go before a grand jury or when a trial maybe held if a bill of indictment is returned Asked if there had been further developments in the case during the weekend McLeod said "If there has been I would not be at liberty to tell you We want to try this case in the Funderburk was arrested Friday and released on $25000 bond later in the day Third Circuit Assistant Solicitor Kenneth Young Jr said Friday the four forgery charges against Funderburk stemmed from payroll checks which were allegedly made out to four men since July 1975 The men reportedly were ghost employes working in construction on the Sumter Towne Mall and later Dillon Park under the supervision of Funderburk The charges were made as the result of a State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigation Young and McLeod will be the prosecutors of the case in General Sessions Court if a trial is held THE OBTAINING MONEY under false pretenses charge arose from the alleged discovery of time sheets for the ghost employes that Funderburk allegedly gave to the city payroll department according to Young He said the funds involved in the four checks is about $400 although as much as $20000 may have been misspent The money allegedly obtained is believed to be local funds Young said Funderburk has been advised not to comment on ITEMS In Truce In Danger KANSAS CITY Mo (AP) An informal truce over the drafting of the Republican platform appeared threatened by some supporters of Ronald Reagan today as the party's Resolutions Committee set hearings on issues that could divide Republicans Some Reagan delegates arriving for the GOP convention did not like the arrangements in which representatives of Reagan and President Ford were to agree on platform-writing procedures They showed it by winning a procedural skirmish and rewriting some of the rules Sunday Showdown Wanted KANSAS CITY Mo (AP) President Ford wants a oneballot candidate-to-candidate showdown with Ronald Reagan at the Republican National Convention but the challenger may seek preliminary tests on issues or rules before the delegates vote on a presidential nominee The convention vanguard set to work today to draft a platform and consider a rules dispute that could affect the presidential nomination itself Dairy Earnings Rise CLEMSON A Clemson University report indicates that earnings of South dairymen rose twice as fast as their production costs during the first five months of 1976 I the charges pending against him Wilson said "I have advised him at this point not to talk We have no official statement at this time The case will have to be handled in court and we want to protect our case until tried by Wilson said "We will make an official statement later The charges allegedly came to light when auditors started studying the city books for the fiscal year that ended June 30 1976 "The 1976 audit is the one in Sigmund Stoudenmire an accountant with Derrick Stubbs and Stith the auditors said today "The audit is Mayor Hodge announced Friday that the investigation by SLED was started about two weeks ago at the request of the city auditors Stoudenmire defined an audit as "an investigation always true under any audit" auditors come in and initiate checks" City Manager Powell Black added "When the year is over the auditors start their work The auditors came in and worked before June 30 and after July 1" Assistant City Manager Horace Curtis said the city is expecting a completed audit about Nov 1 For House Seat Blanding Announces Larry Blanding a 22-year-old Sumter native has announced his candidacy for the District 70 House seat the seat left vacant by Ernest A Finney Jr came the youngest person i'n South Carolina's history to be a delegate to a major political convention the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach The 1971 graduate of Sumter High School is a member of the NAACP the Black Political Caucus the Sumter Chapter of Gaflin College National Alumni Association and the Sumter County Advisory Committee on Minority contributions to South Carolina Blanding has been recognized by the Political Science Institute on his election to the 1972 Democratic convention was Claflin College's Man of the Year in 1974-75 has won the American Legion College Award and the Zimmerman Kiett Service Award For the past two years he has been listed in "Personalities of the A member of Emmanuel United Methodist Church he serves on the Stewart Boad and as convenor of the Young Adults Organization THE CHARGES AGAINST FUNDERBURK originally came to light in a news conference held by City Council Friday afternoon Members of the press were notified to come at 2 30 City Attorney Jack Erter confirmed today City Council had a meeting at 2 before the news conference at his request had a meeting to discuss and to go over the announcement the mayor was about to make" Erter said called that meeting Erter said no motions were approved at the 2 meeting nor were minutes kept "It was strictly the city attorney advising various members of council as to the seriousness of the situation and the fact they should not make public comments about the case for fear of prejudicing the right" Erter said Mayor Hodge could not be reached for comment concerning the council meeting Friday or any further developments in the case Black head of the city's administration said today he first learned about the SLED investigation at Friday council meeting Continued On Page 12A Phillips Blanding File who resigned to accept a judgeship Blanding said in making the announcement "The progress made by the citizens of Sumter city and county in the past few years has been both meaningful and significant The changes facilitated by our government officials have been for the most part commendable the need for continued progress is ever-present and in order for this need to be answered committed and dedicated individuals must step forward to present themselves as political aspirants so that the citizens can decide who is best able to represent them "I feel I am qualified to render service to the community which would be positive progressive and responsive to the desires of our citizens It is with this thought in mind coupled with a sincere desire to serve the citizens of this county that I offer myself as a candidate for the House of Representatives" Blanding said Blanding is a 1975 graduate of Claflin College in Orangeburg where he majored in social and political sciences During his college career Blanding served as president of Student Government in 1974-75 In 1972 he was a delegate to the National Black Political Convention in Gary Ind and later be- Phillips went onto the primary but was defeated by incumbent Finney by a vote of 2043 to 1343 Finney has since the primary election been named to the state circuit court bench and will have to resign as the House member for the eastern section of Sumter County a post he has held for Six years Filing for the special primary election which is to be held August 31 ended at noon today and at 10 a tftunly names on file with Democratic party Secretary Perry Moses HI were Phillips and Blanding With two hours to go until the deadline for filing for the special primacy to fill the Seat of Rep Ernest A Finney Jr ohly two men had thrown their hats in the ring Larry Blanding and CE Phillips Both have filed for the District 70 House of Representatives seat before although Phillips a Shiloh farmer and businessman is the only one who made it all the way to election day with his candidacy Both filed earlier this year for the regular Democratic primary which was held June 8 but Blanding dropped out of the race Larry Blanding A.

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About The Item Archive

Pages Available:
785,663
Years Available:
1894-2017