Family of Stephen Smith, Who Was Found Dead Near Alex Murdaugh's Home, Raises Money to Exhume His Body

The body of a South Carolina teen who mysteriously died near the home of Alex Murdaugh will be exhumed and a new autopsy will be conducted.

The family of Stephen Smith announced in a GoFundMe on Thursday that they have raised enough money to exhume his body for an independent autopsy. Smith's 2015 death investigation was reopened after the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh in 2021.

Smith, 19, was found dead on Sandy Run Road in rural Hampton County, a short distance from the Murdaugh estate. His death was originally classified as a hit-and-run, but the investigation was reopened in 2021 after Maggie and Paul's bodies were found, however, the authorities have not called his death a homicide at this time.

Smith's family has long maintained that his death was not merely a hit and run, but they have never explicitly implicated the Murdaugh family.

Authorities have never publicly disclosed the link between Smith and the Murdaugh family, but Buster Murdaugh — the surviving son of Alex Murdaugh — was one of Smith's high school classmates.

Alex Murdaugh, 54, has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. He faces more than 85 criminal charges in addition to the murder counts, many of which were uncovered after police began investigating the family after the murders. Those cases will be tried at a later date.

On the GoFundMe page, Smith's mother, Sandy, said that the exhumation and autopsy was moving forward. The page had originally aimed to raise $15,000 for investigative expenses. It has now earned more than $44,000.

"Our family is so very grateful to all of you who came together to help us in our fight for justice for Stephen," Sandy Smith wrote. "I could not have imagined when we began this fundraiser that it would take off the way that it did. Thank you for not allowing Stephen's story to be swept under a rug."