A Florida man was found dead Wednesday morning when friends discovered
his body in the fire pit of a camp site off Casstevens Road near the
Beulah community. Phillip D. Mineer, 61, of 11816 Quail Run Drive, Fort
Myers, Fla., was found dead by his friends after a night of camping.
Surry County Sheriff Graham Atkinson said Wednesday afternoon that four
men, one from King and three from Florida, were camping for a July 4
celebration on some land they had purchased together. Atkinson said
three of the men, including the deceased, were Vietnam veterans who had
served in the same unit. "They came up to do some camping and they went
to bed and left one of the guys out at the fire," Atkinson said. "In the
morning they found him in the fire pit." Atkinson said the body, badly
burned, was sent to Chapel Hill for an autopsy and said at this time the
death is being classified as "unusual" until those results are
available. Atkinson said some alcohol had been consumed but not an
amount resulting in high intoxication. "What they were planing to do,
they were going to fix it up to have a place to come camp and they were
talking about turning it into a community park," Atkinson said. "That
was their purpose for being there, to work on that and to celebrate the
Fourth. It was a nice weekend turned into a tragedy for them." The men
involved declined to comment.
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