CHEROKEE COUNTY, S.C. — Investigators said they discovered a decomposing body stuffed into a barrel that was floating near the shoreline of a South Carolina lake.

Officials said the body was discovered around Noon on Thursday, near Gaffney, South Carolina, the Charlotte Observer reported.

“It appears the body had been in the container for a number of days,” Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler told the newspaper.

Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Mueller said investigators were already out at the lake working on another investigation when they got the call, WYFF-TV reported.

“Since the discovery, investigators were able to confirm late Thursday that the death occurred in Spartanburg County. ... I transferred the remains to Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger who will assume the death investigation as is protocol,” Fowler told the Observer.

Anyone with information about the death investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC or 864-489-4722, Ext. 125.

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