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Nearly four months after the body of a missing South Carolina fitness enthusiast was discovered, authorities have determined that Elena Katherine Moore, 39, died of natural causes stemming from heart disease, ending months of speculation surrounding her disappearance.
Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher announced Friday that Moore died from cardiac dysrhythmia accompanied by premature ventricular contractions, a condition involving an abnormal heart rhythm.
Fisher said the autopsy found no evidence of traumatic injuries, including broken bones, strangulation or sexual assault. Toxicology tests detected alcohol but no other substances.
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“We’ve never seen anything that would indicate a homicide. Nothing,” Fisher said. “We were able to follow his path. We were able to learn his medical history, his mental history. We knew it wasn’t a homicide.”
Elena Katherine Moore, 39, was found dead after leaving a Planet Fitness gym in Lexington, South Carolina on Thursday, June 11, 2026, according to the Lexington Police Department. (Lexington Police Department)
The coroner also addressed speculation about Moore’s husband, Brannon Slice, saying he was never considered a suspect or person of interest in the investigation.
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Fisher went further, crediting Slice with repeatedly trying to get help from his wife as she struggled with a serious mental health crisis in the days before her disappearance.
“The only person who really tried to help this girl get her help through the system is her husband,” Fisher said. “He reached out. He tried multiple times to get her help.”
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Moore was found dead on June 17, six days after she went missing following her release from a psychiatric facility.
Elena Moore was found dead about a week after she went missing. (Facebook/Elena Moore)
Fox News Digital previously obtained an incident report showing Slice reported his wife missing on June 12, telling Lexington police she had been released from an undisclosed facility the previous afternoon.
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Fisher confirmed Friday that Moore was incarcerated on June 5 after experiencing what she described as a serious mental health crisis.
The coroner said Moore remained in the facility until June 11, when she was released and placed in a taxi. Her husband had offered to pick her up, but the facility arranged transportation instead.
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Elena Moore and her husband, Brannon Slice. (Facebook/Elena Moore)
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The taxi took Moore to a CVS on Sunset Boulevard in Lexington, where she previously worked. Fisher said Moore entered the store and told a manager the cab driver was stalking her and trying to harm her.
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The manager contacted Lexington police, but Moore had left by the time officers arrived. The taxi driver also came in looking for her after she failed to return to the taxi.
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General view of the scene in Lexington, then. Caroline, on June 19, 2026, where the body of Elena Katherine Moore was found. The personal trainer was last seen alive on June 11. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)
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Slice later told investigators that Moore checked into a Planet Fitness at 6:38 p.m. that evening, according to an incident report previously obtained by Fox News Digital. She was later seen on surveillance footage walking through a Publix parking lot on Old Cherokee Road.
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Fisher said investigators reviewed medical records going back several years, including evidence that Moore had an irregular heartbeat since she was 14 years old. More recent records have documented cardiac arrhythmia, sinus tachycardia, and hypertension.
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During Friday’s news conference, Fisher questioned why Moore was released from the mental health facility despite what she described as a documented psychiatric crisis.
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“This whole situation would be different if someone in that mental health facility…they all saw their doctor, their mental crisis,” Fisher said. “But she was still released.”
Adam Sabes of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
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