Bert Henderson, Clemson’s associate athletic director of planned giving, was found dead near his property in rural South Carolina on Tuesday. Clemson confirmed the news on Twitter, shortly before the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office posted a statement to Facebook.
It is with a heavy heart we pass along that Bert Henderson was found dead this morning. Please keep his family in your thoughts & prayers.
— Clemson Athletics (@ClemsonTigers) February 21, 2017“Anderson County Sheriff Chad McBride and County Coroner Greg Shore have confirmed that the body of Mr. Bert Henderson has been located adjacent to his property,” the Sheriff’s Office statement said. “The family has been notified and the death investigation has been turned over Sheriff’s Office detectives.”
The news was first reported by WSPA-TV reporter Katy Solt, who cited the Anderson County Sheriff Chad McBride.
Henderson was reported missing late Monday afternoon, after Clemson officials noted the 60-year-old did not show up for work. In a statement posted to Twitter by Independent Mail (Anderson County, S.C.). reporter Mike Ellis, the school notified a family friend who then got in touch with Henderson’s family, who placed the call to police. According to Fox Carolina, that call came in around 3:45 p.m. ET.
By Tuesday morning, eight search and rescue teams from Anderson County and adjacent Pickens County were combing the area for clues as to Henderson’s whereabouts, according to Fox Carolina. More than 100 people were involved, including search parties on horseback, with dogs and in the air.
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Meanwhile, search teams from nearby Greenville and Oconee counties were on standby for assistance, according to the Independent Mail.
“The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank all of the volunteers and numerous agencies who assisted in the search,” the office said in a statement. “We simply could not do our job without your support.”
The circumstances around Henderson’s death, which comes just more than a month since the Tigers won the national football championship, are currently under investigation.
Henderson joined Clemson as an athletic trainer in 1978.
This story will be updated as more information comes to light.
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