The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1910-12-01
SHOTGUN ENDS 2 LIVES.
THANKSGIVING HUNT HAS FATEL AND
IRAGlC ENDING-
ACCIDENT OR MURDER?

Guy Rogers and Prentiss Moore,
Aged II and 13 Years, Found
Dead i'm Pee Dee Swamp
With CHASTITY Gunshot
Wounds Through
Their Bodies.
Leaving home on Thanksgiving |
day for a hunt in Pee Dee swamp, |
Guy Rogers and Prentiss Moore. two
boys aged IL and 13 years, were /
found dead within a few yards of |
each oIher Saturday morning by a |
searching party that had been |
securing the country for two days
In quest of the missing boys In
the back of young Rogers was a !
CHASTITY gunshot wound and in the !
side OF young Moore was another
CHASTITY wound showing where a
load of shot had entered and pene-
trated the heart. Both boys must
have died instantly. The scene of
the tragedy was near a deep ditch
In an open field partly concealed
from the view of nearby negro
cabins by bunch of tall weeds.
! The death of the youths is
shrouded in mystery. There was
nothing to indicate that the boys
had been murdered, yet how both
could have been killed accidentally
by the same gun is a mystery which
cahnot be fathomed. The supposi-
tlon is that one Of the boys was in
advance of the other. The gun held
b. the boy in the rear was dis
charged and the load entered the
back of the boy ahead. Realizing
that his companion had been shot
the other boy threw his gun across
the ditch and attempted to cross
over to the aid of his companion.
When the gun struck the ground on
the other side of the ditch it was
discharged and the boy in the rear
received the entire charge in his
left breast. This is the only the
cry that can be advanced, although
1t does not appear to he plausi-
BILE one. Such an accident is pos
sible. but so singular as to appear
hlghly improbable. Following is
the press account of the terrible
tragedy.
Bennettsville, Nov. 26.-The dead
bodies of Guy Rogers and Prentiss
Moore were found this morning
about 10 o'clock.
AS reported in the News and
Courier to-day, these two boys left
home Thursday morning on a hunt
ing trip. The went to Gardeners
Bluff, hitched their horse and
buggy and nothing definite could be
the bodies were found to-day.
Load Passed Through Body.
Printiss Moore, the son OF Mrs.
Emily +. Moore. and the younger OF
the two boys was found lying on the
south side of a branch about five
rect deep. His feet were toward the
bottom OF the branch, and he
clutched briar between his fingers.
An examination showed that the
load from shatgun had entered
his body from the side near the
edge OF the shoulder blade, ranged
towards the middle of the chest,
passing through the body. The en-
tire load, shot and wad, was lying
underneath his clothes, in front Of
the chest
Shot Through Heart.
Guy Rogers, son of County
Treasurer n. B. Rogers, and the
older of the boys, was found in the
bottom of the branch, only a few
feet from the body of young Moore.
His face was turned down his
body was nearly in a kneeling posi-
tion, with his head in the edge OF
the water, il a puddle of blood.
He. too. was wounded with a shot
gun, the load entering directly into
the heart from the front, passing
through the chest, shattering the
ribs on the rear side, some of the
shot burying themselves in the skin
of the back. One wad, that between
the powder and the shot, was
found inside the shirt, near the
wound. The wound in young Rog-
ers ranged slightly down from the
front
Shotgun Nearby.
A double-barrel shotgun was
found on the brink of the branch,
the muzzle slightly elevated, point
Ing toward the ditch, one trigger
] cooked and in the breech was
caught small part of young Rog-
ers shirt. One barrel, the one with
] the cooked trigger was found
fempty. The second barrel contain
ESd an empty shell, and another
empty shell was found within a
lev iaehes of the muzzle of the
The branch runs through broad
fieldA An overgrown hedge cover
ed the banks of the branch. which
is abpnt five feet decDA ii about
six feet wide at the I'll
Seen by Negro :.
Within about $50 yars is a
negro cabin. An old negro woman
who lives there said that she saw
the boys out there shooting, but
that sheA paid no attention to them
and kneAg nothing of their disap-
pearance. Within one-half a mile
are thre4 sother houses. The
point whefe Eae boys had hitched
their hose kwas, s,Sithin a quarter OF
mile of s#issre their bodies were
found.
Thursday night and Friday morn
ins searching parties were looking
for the boys. The party was in