Police have identified the body found alongside Interstate 95 in Bryan County last week as that of Charles Michael Stoyle, 58, of Fort Stewart.
Richmond Hill Police Detective Dana Strickland said Stowe’s family had reported him missing on Feb. 19, the day before his body was discovered. But that the last time anyone had seen the man was when his son-in-law dropped him off at Love’s Truck Stop on Jan. 27.
Stoyle, who was originally from Pennsylvania, had been living with a family member currently on active duty stationed at Fort Stewart Strickland said.
“They said they had been looking for him,” Strickland said. “We still have some investigation to do on that part – as to when they actually dropped him, where they looked for him, etc.”
Strickland declined to reveal the reason given as to why Stoyle was dropped off at the truck stop, saying it was pertinent to the ongoing investigation.
However the detective did say that the investigation into the cause of Stoyle’s death is complete. According to the GBI Crime Lab in Atlanta, Stoyle died from undetermined natural causes.
“He wasn’t shot or stabbed, there were no signs of foul play but the body was so decomposed that it couldn’t be ruled a heart attack or drowning, or anything specific,” Strickland said.
What happened to Stoyle between the time he was dropped off and when he was found 23 days later lying in a ditch within sight of the truck stop next to the southbound on-ramp from Hwy. 144 by a maintenance worker preparing to mow the grass next to the interstate may never be known.
“How and when he ended up in the ditch we don’t know yet,” the detective said.
Stoyle suffered from prior heart and other health issues Strickland added.