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DOUBLE DEATH

Chilling clues at burial site reveal shock truth behind man’s death after his body found beside murdered girlfriend

A SHOCKING twist uncovered at a burial site revealed the truth behind a man's death after his body was found beside his murdered girlfriend.

Authorities located the body of 60-year-old Joseph McKinnon outside his Trenton, home on Saturday after receiving reports of an unresponsive male lying in his yard.

Officials discovered the body of Joseph McKinnon, 60, lying in the yard of his Trenton, South Carolina home on Saturday
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Officials discovered the body of Joseph McKinnon, 60, lying in the yard of his Trenton, South Carolina home on SaturdayCredit: WJBF
In a shocking twist, police discovered a second body, identified as Patricia Dent, in a freshly dug pit next to McKinnon's body
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In a shocking twist, police discovered a second body, identified as Patricia Dent, in a freshly dug pit next to McKinnon's bodyCredit: Facebook/Pamela Briggs
Investigators claim McKinnon strangled his girlfriend to death and placed her in the pit moment before he suffered a deadly cardiac event
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Investigators claim McKinnon strangled his girlfriend to death and placed her in the pit moment before he suffered a deadly cardiac eventCredit: WJBF

Medics tried to revive the McKinnon but to no avail.

During their investigation, officers with the Edgefield County Sheriff's office found a second body in a freshly dug pit.

Sheriff Jody Rowland said the body was identified as Patricia Dent, 65, McKinnon's girlfriend, who lived with him.

Officials said McKinnon had a "cardiac event" while covering the pit.

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Investigators believe McKinnon attacked Dent inside the home after an autopsy report released on Monday determined she died by strangulation.

"Mr. McKinnon then bound her and wrapped her in trash bags before putting her in the previously dug pit," Sheriff Rowland claims.

Dent's death came as a surprise to her family, who didn't see it coming.

“I’m shocked. I didn’t see any of that coming,” Dent's twin sister Pamela Briggs told .

She says there were no signs of any of this happening.

“Everybody who ever met her liked her. She was just full of energy. She was 65 and working,” said Briggs.

Dent was supposed to be at work that day at Mount Vintage Golf Club but didn’t show up, call or respond to texts, an employee at the golf course told officials.

“She wanted to know if I knew where my sister was, and I said, ‘No, I have no idea,’ and then it just started to play out from there,” Briggs added.

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Briggs said the loss of her sister has left a "big part of her gone."

"I would say a nightmare, and I want to wake up, and it’s a dream. I know it’s not. This is reality and life, and a big part of me is gone, and now I’m going to have to live with that,” the sister told Fox.

Dent's twin sister, Pamela Briggs, was shocked by her death and described her as 'full of energy' at 65
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Dent's twin sister, Pamela Briggs, was shocked by her death and described her as 'full of energy' at 65Credit: Facebook/Patricia Vaughn Dent

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