South Carolina personal trainer goes missing, last spotted walking toward wooded area
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South Carolina’s lead investigative agency, the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), joined a case in Lexington on Wednesday after authorities found a body in a wooded area near the place where a missing woman was last seen nearly a week earlier.

The discovery followed a six-day search for 39-year-old Elena Katherine Moore, a personal trainer who, officials said, disappeared Thursday evening after leaving a Planet Fitness gym in Lexington.

The Lexington Police Department said the body has not yet been formally identified, but investigators noted that it matches the clothing description of the missing woman.

Authorities have now reclassified the case as an active death investigation, with SLED assisting local police as they work to confirm the person’s identity and determine how the death occurred.

Police said Moore was last seen Thursday leaving the Planet Fitness location and walking toward a nearby wooded area in Lexington, South Carolina, before she vanished. (Lexington Police Department)

Lexington Police Chief Terrence Green said officers found the body on Wednesday after a tip from a member of the public directed investigators to focus their search in that area.

“At approximately 2:48 p.m. we found an unidentified body that fits the clothing description of our missing person. We are still waiting on the coroner to identify her.”

The body was reportedly wearing a “similar green outfit” consistent with what Moore was seen wearing on surveillance footage the night before she disappeared.

Officials said they are still awaiting formal identification from the coroner.

The Lexington County Coroner’s Office said an autopsy will be scheduled in the coming days and that the process is expected to take some time.

Elena Katherine Moore signed in at the Planet Fitness on Whiteford Way around 6:40 p.m. Thursday and was later seen walking away from the facility toward a wooded area behind a nearby Lowe’s Home Improvement store, authorities said. (Lexington Police Department)

“In reference to the body found in Lexington in the area of Old Cherokee Road and Northlake Drive. Coroner Margaret Fisher can confirm the body of a female matching the clothing description of the missing person, Elena K. Moore has been found,” the office said in a statement.

“No positive identification has been made as of this time. We will await positive identification before any further information is released. No cause of death has been determined”

When asked if foul play was suspected, the police said, “Again, it’s an active investigation and we are having SLED investigate that.”

Elena Moore standing and looking at the camera

Elena Moore disappeared in Lexington, S.C., on June 11, 2026. (Lexington Police Department)

Moore was first reported missing last Friday, prompting a large-scale search that included multiple agencies and the deployment of a drone.

She was last seen Thursday night in surveillance footage walking through the Publix parking lot at 100 Old Cherokee Road.

In the video, she is seen wearing an olive-green zip-up hoodie and black athletic pants, the same outfit she was reportedly wearing when she left Planet Fitness.

Authorities said that in the days leading up to her disappearance, Moore exhibited behavior that was out of character, including a sudden absence and an abrupt change in social media presence, according to ABC News.

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