Body found in woods identified as missing personal trainer Elena Moore after telling pal she was ‘scared for her life’
Posted by hoangduc - July 3, 2026
THE body found in the search for Elena Moore has been identified as the missing personal trainer.
Authorities positively identified the body found in a wooded area on June 17 as that of Moore, 39, after previously confirming that it matched the clothing description of what she was last seen wearing after leaving her gym on June 11.
Moore was reported missing by her husband on June 12 but was last seen the evening before around 6:40pm when she signed in to a Planet Fitness in Lexington, South Carolina, where she frequently worked out.
She was spotted on surveillance footage walking away from the gym and walking across the nearby Publix parking lot at 9:17pm wearing an olive-green hoodie and black pants, heading in the direction of a wooded area behind a Lowe’s.
The Lexington Police Department said they found a body matching Moore’s clothing description on Wednesday after searching a wooded area, but they did not immediately have an identification.
She was found near Old Cherokee Road and North Lake Drive, near the Fourteen Mile Creek Trail, and about half a mile from the Publix where she was last seen.
The Lexington County Coroner’s Office confirmed on Friday that the body was Moore, adding that an autopsy is scheduled for Saturday morning.
Additional information about the cause and manner of her death is expected to be released on Monday.
“Please note that determining a final cause and manner of death is a thorough process that may take several days or weeks to complete,” the coroner said.
After her body was discovered, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the state’s largest crime unit, said they were ᴀssisting Lexington police in the death investigation.
Moore’s body was found underneath a concrete bridge after authorities searched the wooded area when following up on a tip.
“They found her under the bridge, and I thought, well, now, has she been sleeping there? She was sleeping somewhere, and she was eating somewhere,” Joe Tonsing, a Lexington resident who lives near where Moore was found, told ABC affiliate WACH.
Sondra Rachelle Campbell, a close friend of Moore’s, told NewsNation she doesn’t believe the theories that the 39-year-old was struggling with her mental health and took her own life, and instead suspects foul play.
“I think my friend was struggling for her life. I think she was literally afraid for her life,” she said.
Campbell echoed the same concern in an interview with Fox News.
“She was scared for her life. She actually said those words to me,” she said.
When asked about what was wrong, Moore reportedly wanted to talk in private.
“I can’t talk to you right now. There’s too many people around. She’s like, but we’ve got to talk one-on-one,” Campbell recalled.
Campbell told NewsNation that the personal trainer “loved her life” and would show up for her clients even on her bad days.
She said the situation has raised “red flags” to her as she cast doubt on Moore’s marriage.
“There has been issues. They were trying to separate,” she said.
The Lexington Police Department said on Tuesday that Moore’s husband, Brannon Slice was “not a person of interest at the current moment.”
Investigators also said they did not suspect foul play in her death.
Moore appeared to be confused in the days leading up to her disappearance.
She was captured in a Ring camera video obtained by The U.S. Sun allegedly pretending to be a DoorDash delivery driver.
Sarah Burleson said Moore was acting bizarrely outside of her unit in an apartment complex about a week before Moore vanished.
Moore met with a DoorDash delivery woman who was dropping off a food order for Burleson, she alleged.
In the video, Moore appeared to take the plastic to-go bag from the worker before taking a few moments and knocking on the door, delivering the food herself to Burleson’s partner.
Burleson said Moore tried to walk into her apartment and looked “confused.”
“Something seemed very off and I really hope she turns up safe and sound,” she said.
“For the past week we thought it was a crazy DoorDash experience.”
Moore was also seen rummaging through a neighbor’s packages roughly an hour later, Burleson told NewsNation.
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THE body found in the search for Elena Moore has been identified as the missing personal trainer. Authorities positively identified the body found in a wooded area on…