NOVEMBER 27–DECEMBER 3, 2025
WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM
COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
Arrest made in 38-year-old murder of Margit Schuller Improved forensic technology, persistence combine to solve cold case By Mike McCombs The Island News Benjamin Franklin once said, “energy and persistence conquer all things.” With a little help from science, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) Cold Case Investigator Bob Bromage appears to have proven Franklin correct. The BCSO held a press confer-
LOWCOUNTRY LOWDOWN
ence Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 19, 2025, to announce that almost four decades after the murder of 34-year-old Margit Schuller in 1987, 76-year-old Cortez Sabino Lake of Beaufort has been arrested and Lake charged in connection with the killing. The arrest is a direct result of the BCSO’s Cold Case Review and improved forensic technology over the past 38 years. Investigators served Lake with
an arrest warrant for murder on was stationed at Parris Island. Tuesday, Nov. 18. He remains in At the time of Margit’s murder, custody at the Beaufort County Jozsef Schuller, a Detention Center with a bond Navy corpsman, hearing pending with a Circuit was on assignment Court judge at a later date. in San Diego. The victim Margit G. Schuller was born June 21, 1953 in Gardony, Hungary. A cardiac nurse, she married Jozsef Schuller and they had a daughter. The family immigrated to the United States in 1982. When Jozsef Schuller joined the U.S. Navy, the family moved from Alabama to Beaufort, where he
The crime At around 8:45 Margit G. p.m., on Sunday, Schuller Nov. 1, 1987, BCSO deputies responded to the Palmetto Apartments in Burton where Schuller had been found shot to death near the complex’s laundry room, where she had been last seen folding laundry.
When Schuller’s 12-year-old daughter went looking for her after she was late coming back to her apartment, she found her dead in a pool of blood under a nearby tree, shot to death. “She was shot actually inside the laundromat and crawled her way out,” Bromage said. A second blood trail diverged from Schuller’s blood trail back toward the end of the apartment complex indicating to investigators that the killer had been wounded, as well.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
LOLITA HUCKABY
Downtown merchants wear smiles despite ‘big dig’
Y
BEAUFORT ou gotta hand it to the downtown Beaufort merchants. Most of them are wearing smiles worthy of a beauty queen despite the bad hand city and state officials have dealt them by starting a multimillion dollar digging project right at the beginning of the busiest holiday shopping season. When city officials announced less than a month ago that the long-anticipated downtown area stormwater drainage renovation had to be completed by the end of 2026 or federal funds could be jeopardized, the announcement included plans to close the central Charles and Bay Street intersection for several weeks. While initially there was much “weeping and wailing” by retailers who saw the potential of their primary shopping season going up in smoke, the merchants quickly adopted a “can do” attitude to make lemonade out of the lemons. The city officials extended the free parking opportunities in the downtown marina parking lot, a tradition for the past several years although it traditionally ran from Thanksgiving to the new year.
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On Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, Lauren Galvin, Hannah Sather, Robbin Buchanan arrange flowers for tables in preparation of the Parish Church of St. Helana’s 46th annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner that will be held at the church on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 27. Amber Hewitt/The Island News
BCSO: Missing Lobeco man found dead; autopsy pending
By Delayna Earley The Island News The search for a missing Lobeco man was suspended on Saturday evening, Nov. 22, when remains that have since been confirmed to be his were discovered, according to a release from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. Isaac Bussey Sr., 79, was re-
ported as “missing and endangered” on Friday, Nov. 21, after he left home to go shrimping and did not return. His relatives last heard from him at around 3 p.m. that day, and his
last known location was Old Rail Bed Road in Lobeco. An autopsy was scheduled to be performed on Monday, Nov. 24, according to the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office and
the findings from the autopsy were to be released on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
NEWS
STATE NEWS
HEALTH
INSIDE
Mary McCarthy leaves a lasting impact with $2.5 million contribution — largest in Beaufort Memorial Foundation’s history.
137 in quarantine as measles continue to spread in South Carolina.
More men are choosing liposuction to sculpt, reduce fat.
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