Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said Friday that Elena Moore died of natural causes tied to previously diagnosed heart conditions. The finding closed the immediate cause-of-death question after Moore had been missing and later found dead in Lexington County.
Fisher said the autopsy linked Moore’s death to heart problems that included an irregular heartbeat. A pathologist at the Medical University of South Carolina who specializes in cardiovascular health reviewed the findings, and the autopsy found no signs of traumatic injuries or physical trauma.
Elena Moore autopsy findings
Moore was first reported missing in early June. Neighbors later captured her on doorbell cameras appearing confused, picking up a delivery driver’s food and looking through packages at an apartment complex. After she was located, Moore was admitted to an unnamed inpatient mental health facility.
Fisher said that facility diagnosed Moore with an unspecified psychosis and described her as being in a full mental crisis. Five days after she was admitted, Moore was released. Fisher said Moore did not seem to be getting her prescribed heart medication at the facility, even though staff said it had been given.
Brannon Slice and the release
Moore’s husband, Brannon Slice, was called and offered the chance to pick her up. The facility instead arranged a taxi for Moore, and the taxi took her to a CVS Pharmacy on Sunset Boulevard where she used to work.
Fisher said Moore had left her wallet but reportedly left the store with four bottles of wine and water, promising to pay for the items later. Moore called police, claiming the taxi driver had been stalking her. She was later seen near a Planet Fitness and a nearby parking lot along Sunset Boulevard.
Fisher said Moore also allegedly took clothes that did not belong to her from Planet Fitness, along with an AirPod. Moore was eventually seen crossing North Lake Drive near the area where her body was found. Her toxicology showed a 0.089 blood-alcohol level, and Fisher said excessive heat during that time could have played a role along with the wine she took from CVS.
SLED and the missing persons case
Fisher said Slice was never criminally implicated in the investigation. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division closed its missing persons case into Moore after the coroner’s findings were released.
For Moore’s family, the ruling settles the cause-of-death question, but one detail still hangs over the case: why her prescribed heart medication was not reaching her if staff said it had been given. That is the part that still explains the gap between care on paper and what Fisher said the toxicology and autopsy showed.
