Murdaugh Family Murder Mystery: Everything You Need to Know About the Gripping Case – E! Online

Death of Mallory Beach in February 2019:

According to a police report obtained by E! News, authorities believe Paul, then 19, was driving his father’s 17-foot boat on Archer’s Creek, when it crashed into a bridge, launching six individuals between the ages of 18 and 20 into the water. While five of the six passengers surfaced moments later, 19-year-old Mallory Beach was nowhere to be found.

A week later, the Beach family’s worst fears came true when her remains were found nearly five miles away from the crash site. An autopsy report stated that the cause of death was drowning and blunt force trauma.

In the midst of their mourning, the Beach family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a chain of convenience stores, Alex and 25-year-old Richard Alexander “Buster” Murdaugh Jr., alleging that the defendants supplied the underage group with alcohol. E! News reached out to the Murdaugh family spokesperson and lawyer for comment, but did not hear back.

But while the Beach family moved quickly to seek justice for their daughter, authorities were slow to make an arrest, fueling speculation that the family’s status may have been protecting Paul.

These claims were pure gossip, but it certainly didn’t help that the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said in multiple court documents that Paul was “uncooperative” throughout the investigation and that officers did not perform alcohol breath tests on him.