South Carolina coroner rules fitness trainer's death natural, linked to heart condition

Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher announced Friday that Elena Katherine Moore, a 39-year-old fitness trainer who vanished in June, died of natural causes. An autopsy determined the cause of death was cardiac dysrhythmia with premature ventricular contractions, an abnormal heart rhythm.

"We never saw anything that would indicate homicide. Nothing," Fisher said, adding that the examination revealed no traumatic injuries, broken bones, strangulation or sexual assault. Toxicology testing identified only alcohol.

Fisher noted that Moore had been involuntarily committed to a mental-health facility on June 5 after a severe psychiatric crisis and was released on June 11. After leaving the facility, she traveled by taxi to a CVS store in Lexington, where she reported that the driver was stalking her before disappearing. Police were alerted, but she was not located. Surveillance later captured her at a nearby gym and in a parking lot.

The coroner said Moore’s medical history included an irregular heartbeat since adolescence, with recent records showing arrhythmia, sinus tachycardia and hypertension. She emphasized that Moore’s husband, Brannon Slice, was never a suspect and had repeatedly sought help for her mental-health needs.

Fisher questioned the decision to discharge Moore from the facility despite documented psychiatric concerns, suggesting that better coordination among medical staff might have altered the outcome.