Local Radar

Marion Key family says they have more questions than answers after discovery of remains
web posted January 13, 2006

MERRIWETHER – The five month search for Marion Walter Key came to an end on December 6, 2005 with the discovery of his remains just off Sweetwater Road at the edge of a wooded area near a pasture. That came three months after his car was found off Sylvan Road on September 2, 2005. However, the discoveries have brought little in the way of closure for the family who says they have more questions than answers about the disappearance.

The Key family sat down with EdgefieldDaily.com to express their thankfulness to the Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office, friends, neighbors, and strangers who offered help during the ordeal that still has not come to a close as far as they are concerned. “We still have a lot of questions we would like answers to,” Melba Key, Mr. Key’s widow, said.

Among those questions are how Mr. Key could have gotten to the location his remains were found which would have forced Mr. Key to traverse heavily wooded terrain with many hills. Mr. Key, who had a long list of medical problems, could not walk unassisted on level ground. “They will never make me believe he could have climbed that gate and then walked that far by himself,” Bonnie Posey, one of Mr. Key’s daughters, said.

Edgefield County Sheriff’s Chief Investigator Randy Doran said the case is still open at this time but the cause of death has been ruled natural causes. “I am still waiting on the final results of the autopsy to come in from SLED,” he said. “Unless the results (of the autopsy) show us something other than natural death we will close the case at that time.” Investigator Doran said that did not mean the case could not be reopened if evidence of foul play turned up. “I wish I had something, anything, to continue the investigation.”

Over the course of the five-month long ordeal there were rumors of the car being found just two weeks before its discovery. Once the car was found, it seemed the car had not been at the location for the more than two months since Mr. Key’s disappearance. The grass beneath the car was dying but not dead. In addition, the height of the grass beneath the car was almost as tall as the grass next to the car suggesting the car had only been there for a few weeks, not the nine weeks it had been missing. “I looked at the grass the next day,” Mrs. Key said, “and a lot of it wasn’t dead. I know the car could not have been there the whole time,” she said. Several family members agreed.

Another strange twist in the case came just two weeks before the discovery of Mr. Key’s remains, another rumor of the body being discovered. Those rumors turned out not only to be true, but were very accurate, just as the previous rumors were. “When I got to work and heard the rumor I told a coworker to mark the calendar,” Mrs. Key said, “they’ll find his body in two weeks.” Mrs. Key said the discovery came, “two weeks to the day we marked the calendar.”

That coincidence is too much for family members to accept as coincidence. “I can see once,” Mrs. Posey said, “but not twice. Somebody knows something they aren’t telling.” The family said they do not necessarily believe someone intentionally killed Mr. Key but that perhaps a bad situation turned worse and that Mr. Key may have suffered a heart attack from being frightened or fell which caused his death. “I think at that point they panicked and took the body and placed it there,” Mrs. Key said.

The rest of the family agrees and feels that more than one person was involved, maybe as many as three. “Maybe one day someone close to the ones involved might say something,” Mrs. Posey said. Other things that came with the discoveries bother the family as well. The fact Mr. Key had a long held phobia of sorts of driving down dirt roads, “he wouldn’t drive down a dirt road for anything,” Mrs. Key said, “he thought it tears up the car.” The fact his wallet was discovered in his front pocket also bothered the family who said he always carried it in his back pocket.  

Missing keys add to their confusion, “He had a huge bunch of keys,” Mrs. Key said, “he always had to pull up his pants because they would weigh them down.” However, when the remains were discovered the only keys found were those to the car. Mrs. Key said when Mr. Key left his job at Wal-Mart the car was almost out of gas and video of local stations never show him stopping for gas. “When they found the car it had over a half a tank of gas,” Mrs. Posey said. “Where did that come from?” she asked.

In addition, the clutch in the car was burned up. “We’d like to know how that happened too,” another family member said. Mrs. Posey said her father always paid for gas with his gas card at the pump so he did not have to walk inside the store due to his inability to walk, “his gas card was never used that night,” or thereafter the family said.

Mrs. Posey said her husband, Mark, had been hunting a short distance away on property owned by Pioneer, “he could see the location (the remains were found) from where he was,” she said. “Someone with a four-wheeler could have taken the body through the field from that side,” of the property she said.

Investigator Doran said he hoped something would turn up that would allow the Sheriff’s Office to reopen the investigation and the family said they still have the reward bank account open and they may still offer a reward for information. “We know somebody knows something,” Mrs. Posey said due to the rumors. They believe that someone started the rumors to allow the car and body to be found.

The family said they were preparing a letter to thank everyone who offered prayers, helped in the searches, offered help, food, and assistance to the family during the ordeal that would be given to the local media for publication. They also asked that if anyone had any information to please contact the Sheriff’s Office at 803-637-5337 or 803-278-1625. Mrs. Posey said anyone who would like to write to the family they may e-mail them at mwkey2005@yahoo.com
 
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