In the summer of 2019, a grim discovery was made in a quiet home in Clover, South Carolina, unraveling a story of desperation and concealed tragedy. On July 31, authorities performing a welfare check at a residence on Griggs Road found the body of 45-year-old Thomas Stephen Gardner Jr. It was determined that he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound just days before his discovery.
The scene, however, held a much deeper and more unsettling secret.
Further investigation inside the home led to the discovery of two more bodies, those of Gardner's mother, 69-year-old Susan Gardner, and his aunt, 77-year-old Ruth Allred. The condition of their remains indicated that they had been deceased for a significant amount of time. A suicide note left by Thomas Gardner shed light on the tragic circumstances. In the note, he confessed to concealing the deaths of his mother and aunt, stating that his mother had passed away in November 2015 and his aunt about six months later. He expressed that he feared being blamed for their deaths and therefore did not report them.
The subsequent investigation by the York County Coroner's Office and Sheriff's Office pieced together the timeline of events. Autopsies revealed that Ruth Allred had died of natural causes, specifically atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The cause of Susan Gardner's death, however, could not be determined, though there were no signs of foul play. Investigators believe Thomas Gardner wrapped the bodies of his mother and aunt and kept them in a room in the house for years.
The motive behind this concealment appeared to be financial. Authorities concluded that Thomas Gardner did not report the deaths in order to continue collecting his mother's and aunt's government benefits. Relatives had reportedly asked for welfare checks on the family prior to the discovery, but no one had answered the door. The case was ultimately ruled a double-murder suicide by initial speculation, but later clarified as a suicide and the discovery of two previously deceased individuals. With Thomas Gardner being the sole person of interest and deceased, the investigation was administratively closed, and no arrests were made in connection with the deaths of Susan Gardner and Ruth Allred.
