He Met a Woman Online and Had Hopes for a Well-Paying Job. Weeks Later, He Ended Up Dead in a Trashcan

Mystery surrounds the death of a Massachusetts man whose remains were discovered inside a trash can in South Carolina.

David Hutchinson, 32, was found decomposing inside a trash can at a home on Pearl Street in Marion on Thursday, Jan. 29, according to the Marion County Coroner, WMBF reported.

Authorities are investigating the death as a homicide, Marion Police Chief Tony Flowers told News13.

Flowers said Hutchinson arrived in Marion in December after a woman he met online allegedly told him he could find a well-paying job in the area, WMBF reported. He was expected to return to Massachusetts in early January — but when he didn’t come home, relatives alerted police.

In an interview with ABC4, Flowers said there could be as many as 12 people connected to the case.

“It could be 12,” he said. “I don’t know how many was involved. Because this house he was supposedly at, it is people in and out of the house all the time. So, there’s no rhyme or reason to who lives there, who doesn’t. So, we don’t know how all how many people were there when this happened. If it actually happened inside the house, outside the house, in the area.”

On Jan. 30, Jaida Braddy, 41, was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact to a felony in connection with Hutchinson’s death. She is being held on a $15,000 surety bond, according to inmate records.

Hutchinson’s family, meanwhile, says they are grappling with the loss — and pushing back against any narrative that reduces him to a headline.

“David isn’t just a drifter who showed up in town, or another statistic,” his brother told News13. “He’s a son, a brother, a cousin. An uncle and a friend to a lot of people up here who loved him tremendously. We prayed this story would have a better ending, and we’ll miss him so much.”

He described Hutchinson as “naive and too trusting,” but said he was ultimately “a good kid who made bad decisions at times,” adding that “this time he sadly had to pay the ultimate price for it.”

According to a GoFundMe page, Hutchinson — a barber — had a “kind heart and the biggest personality,” and was “loved by all those who knew him and friendly to those who didn’t.”