A man laying beside the kerosene pump at Horne’s convenience store in Chappells was the first sign that something was amiss this afternoon in a double homicide.

A customer at the gas station at the junction of S.C. Highways 34 and 39 noticed the man, thought he was passed out, and went to notify the clerk inside.

The pair investigated, and found the man was not sick or inebriated, but dead from apparently what were either gunshot or stab wounds. They then spied a white Oldsmobile at a nearby picnic area. Another dead man was slumped in the car.

The Newberry County Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene at approximately 4:30 p.m. By 5 p.m., dispatchers were going out over the air waves saying “do not send rescue.”

Neither victim is identified, and law enforcement is operating under the assumption that a third person fled the scene on foot shortly before the bodies were discovered.

Major Todd Johnson of the Sheriff’s Office said they think the shooter “possibly was traveling in the same car” as the victims.

Officers from Greenwood, Laurens and Saluda counties, Ninety Six, the Department of Natural Resources, Highway Patrol and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) converged on the remote crossroads close to so many county lines. Johnson made note of the “great outpouring of support” from all the emergency responders present on the scene as the blue lights of law enforcement strobed from every direction and traffic was waved through the four way stop.

The bodies were left undisturbed during the early response, as officers waited on SLED’s bloodhound team to hopefully pick up the scent of a killer.

But the waves of incoming officers quickly coordinated and turned around, spreading out in the rural area and conducting door-to-door questioning at households. They also formed a perimeter to watch cars departing on the many roads out of the area, in case of possible carjacking by the suspect.

Johnson said there is “every indication it was a matter of minutes” that the men were shot before their bodies were discovered.

All this searching was augmented by the SLED helicopter sweeping through the sky. The state chopper held agents using special thermal imaging binoculars trying to spot the fugitive’s heat signature on the ground. Both heat and light were fleeing quickly from the scene as well as snowflakes occasionally spit and the sun sank.

Law enforcement is saturating the area and Johnson said they will keep searching and stay out tonight as long as there are reasonable leads to follow.

Law enforcement is asking anyone with any information about the incident to contact the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office at 321-2222 immediately. You can also contact Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CrimeSC, www.sccrimestoppers.com or text your tip to “TIPSC plus your message” to CRIMES (274637).