Lottery Winner David Taylor Died From Hypothermia After Becoming a “Missing Person” Case

By Louie Fecou
Published: May 11, 2023 (Last updated: September 14, 2024)
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How did David Taylor Die? Missing Person Update
David Taylor Image from Missing: Dead or Alive? (Credit - Netflix)

Missing: Dead or Alive? follows case studies over four episodes. One of those cases was David Taylor, from Barnwell, South Carolina, who happened to win some lottery winnings at the time, but his life ended in tragic circumstances. Sadly, David died of hypothermia, but a lot of viewers who watched the series had many questions about his death.

The Missing Case of David Taylor from South Carolina

This case begins with the discovery of a pickup truck belonging to David Taylor that is found by the side of a freeway. David’s wallet and ID are inside the truck, while the man is nowhere to be found. David’s family is contacted, and the team discovers that David was excited as he had just won a $10,000 lottery and had been searching for the office where the ticket could be cashed in.

The investigators track David’s past location for the full day, and it seems that he had indeed been driving all over the town, possibly looking for the lottery office. CCTV shows that David had walked into a store to buy lighters and then also asked a store employee about a certain location.

After a few days pass, David is nowhere to be found. The apparent conclusion is drawn that David may have been attacked because of the winning ticket, but in another twist, it turns out that the ticket has never been cashed in.

Eventually, there is a call from someone who phones the team and reports an incident on the day David went missing. The caller relays the story of a person running across six lanes of traffic during rush hour. The caller cannot remember what the man was wearing.

The location matches where David’s pickup truck was found. When the team checked the area, they discovered the area close by is used by drug users. The team checked with David’s family to find out if David was a drug user, but they said that despite other members of his family being drug users, David was not one of them.

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Was David Taylor found?

Yes. David’s body is found in the wooded area close by under a tree. Despite their initial fears, the team finds no wounds on his body.

How did David Taylor Die?

A post-mortem was done on David’s corpse, revealing that he died from hypothermia. The investigation also revealed that he had a very high amount of methamphetamine found in his bloodstream.

Was David Taylor killed?

It appears that David may have been a drug user without anyone knowing. The team explains that while David was looking for the lottery office, he must have taken meth, which turned him delirious. In his state, the meth in his system may have caused him to hallucinate, and he became so paranoid that he thought someone or something was chasing him.

It seems that this is why he left his truck by the road and ran across the six lanes of traffic on the freeway and into the forested area, where he, unfortunately, died from hypothermia as a result of the drug overdose.

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