Missing Montgomery man found dead in South Carolina

The body of a Montgomery man missing since March 31 has been found and identified in South Carolina. 

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office confirmed Thursday evening Phillip Rawlings Jr., 42, was found on Saturday, May 23, near Polawana Island. 

"Last Wednesday, May 20, 2020, Rawlings's vehicle was found abandoned on Polowana Road, which is a short distance from where his body was recovered," a sheriff's office release stated. "The cause and manner of Rawlings's death have not yet been determined by forensic pathologists at the Medical University of South Carolina. Those determinations are pending toxicology and other medical studies."

Rawlings Jr., who lived with bipolar disorder, disappeared in late March. Rawlings Jr. was living with his parents, who reported him missing after he never returned from what they thought was a trip to the store. 

More:'Call home': Parents of missing Montgomery man Phillip Rawlings searching for information

 "We checked his room and all the clothes he had with him were gone. He just got in his truck and left," Phillip Rawlings, his father, told the Montgomery Advertiser last week. 

Rawlings Jr. required daily medication to manage his bipolar disorder.

Rawlings said he's not sure why his son was in South Carolina and has no known connections there. All his credit cards were found inside the truck, his father said. 

Rawlings Jr. was a 1995 Montgomery Academy graduate. He graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina in 1999. Rawlings Jr. later went on to graduate with his medical degree from UAB and ultimately practiced medicine at Providence Hospital in Mobile before returning to Montgomery.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Melissa Brown at 334-240-0132 or mabrown@gannett.com.