South Carolina deputies suspected a man was killed in a hit-and-run. An oil trail led them down a darker path.
A Shirt, a Shoe, and a Twisted Fender: The Greenwood Roadside Scene That Defied a Simple Explanation
Bizeconanalysis.com – On a quiet stretch of dead-end road in Greenwood, South Carolina, just past the stroke of 1 a.m. on May 7, 2023, emergency crews pulled up to what was initially logged as a routine traffic collision. What they encountered at the tree line, however, was far from routine. There, at the edge of the surrounding woods, lay the body of 46-year-old Davis McClendon. Closer to the asphalt, scattered among the wreckage of a BMW 5 Series sedan, sat a discarded shirt and a single shoe. No second vehicle was visible. No witness had seen a second car approach. The scene, frozen under the flat glow of streetlights, raised questions that a straightforward hit-and-run narrative could not answer.
Freezing the Scene
Greenwood County Sheriff’s Investigator Patrick Durkin arrived after first responders had secured the area, his task to document every detail before time and weather could erase them. He noted that conditions were dry — no rain had washed away trace evidence — which meant the road surface and vehicle damage would tell their story intact.
“There was no rain or anything that would potentially wash anything away. So, um, the main thing I focused on … was the vehicle.” — Patrick Durkin
Durkin’s examination of the BMW revealed anomalies that did not fit a typical fender graze. Rather than the shallow indentation one expects from a low-speed side impact, the driver’s-side fender had been ripped outward in a way he compared to a crushed tuna can. The front driver’s-side wheel sat turned slightly. Both airbags had deployed. A cell phone rested on the front passenger seat. McClendon’s body had been discovered roughly fifty feet from the car, suggesting he had been outside the vehicle when struck — yet no other vehicle was present to have done the striking.
“Usually when we would … you’d think of a normal fender bender — it would just kinda be pressed into it. And this was torn back, like a tuna can in a sense.” — Patrick Durkin
Investigator Ronny Powell of the same sheriff’s office confirmed that the working assumption at the scene was that McClendon had been struck by a vehicle. But the absence of a second car, the unusual geometry of the damage, and the deployed airbags together complicated that assumption considerably.
Two Women, One Phone Call
The only people present besides first responders were two women: Meredith Haynie and Megan McGovern, a babysitter who regularly cared for Haynie’s three children. McGovern had driven Haynie to the scene after Haynie grew alarmed by a phone call that went silent mid-conversation. It was McGovern who stepped out of her car and became the first person to see McClendon’s body on the ground.
Haynie told investigators that she and McClendon had been at a local club that evening. He left the venue, called her minutes later from the roadside, and told her he was parked at the intersection of Avid Road and Sawgrass Place. He placed her on hold. He never returned to the line. Haynie, worried, called McGovern for a ride to the location.
“The assumption was that he was struck by a vehicle.” — Ronny Powell
Powell noted that both women provided detailed accounts of what they observed throughout the night, and that Haynie’s statement included a summary of her relationship with McClendon.
“Everyone’s Best Friend”
Those who knew McClendon described a man without a single enemy. Friends Chip Funderbunk, Zach Calhoun, and Johnny Coats recalled a personality defined by warmth, generosity, and an appetite for big experiences — both literal and figurative. He worked at a retirement home, where residents adored him, and his divorce had not dulled his devotion as a father or a friend.
“Everybody loved Davis. He was just awesome.” — Chip Funderbunk
“He loved BIG!” — Zach Calhoun
“He was everyone’s best friend.” — Johnny Coats
None of them, however, could recall McClendon ever discussing the specifics of his romantic life. That changed when he met Haynie.
A Birthday Night and a New Connection
The two had crossed paths on December 23, 2022, at a club where Haynie was celebrating her 39th birthday with close friends. She recalled wearing an ugly Christmas sweater when a handsome stranger struck up conversation. Text messages followed on Christmas Day, then the next day, then the next. By the time of his death, Haynie had been dating McClendon for roughly four months.
“Then I think he texted on Christmas Day and then the next day, and then the next.” — Meredith Haynie
Haynie described McClendon as the most empathetic person she had ever met. Before their relationship, she had been keeping her head down for months — a period that began when, approximately six months before meeting McClendon, she left her husband of ten years, Bud Ackerman, a local auto body shop owner. The separation set the stage for a new chapter that would end, within weeks of its beginning, at that lonely intersection in Greenwood.
The investigation into what transpired on that May night — whether a fleeing driver, a staged collision, or something else entirely — continued beyond the initial scene work. The physical evidence, the absence of a second vehicle, and the personal entanglements surrounding both McClendon and Haynie ensured that the case would not resolve along the simplest available explanation.
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