An Orangeburg, South Carolina man has been charged with murder after his former roommate's body was found buried under a fire pit in the backyard of their home, police said.
Myrtle Beach police said 54-year-old Sheridan Dirk Fogle, of Orangeburg, was arrested Thursday and charged with the murder of 51-year-old Penny Whiteside.
The U.S. Marshals Service and Orangeburg Department of Public Safety assisted police with executing an arrest warrant at Fogle's home on Broughton Street at approximately 7:30 a.m. that day in connection with a missing persons homicide investigation that began on May 11, 2022.
“On June 12, the body of Penny Whiteside was discovered buried in a yard outside her home in the 600 block of 1st Avenue in Myrtle Beach,” the Horry County Coroner's Office said in a statement. “Whiteside was last seen in the spring of 2022 and was 51 years old at the time. The death is being investigated as a homicide by the Myrtle Beach Police Department.”
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Sheridan Dirk Fogle is charged with the murder of Penny Whiteside, who went missing in May 2022. (Horry County Jail)
Police said Whiteside and Fogle had been living together since 2022, and investigations revealed that statements from neighbors indicated the victim may have been buried under a fire pit in the backyard of the home.
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Investigators obtained a search warrant on June 12, 2024 for a property in the 600 block of 1st Avenue South in Myrtle Beach.
During a search of the property, investigators found human remains that were later identified as those of Whiteside.
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“This was a tragic loss of life and a senseless violent crime,” Myrtle Beach Police said in a Facebook post. “Please continue to pray for the victim's family and friends.”
