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By Steve Huff in missing persons
Saturday, Aug. 15 2009 @ 4:43PM

UPDATE

The body found in the Pee Dee River has been identified as true crime writer Dale Hudson. Authorities have yet to determine a cause of death, but they do not suspect foul play. [Hat-tip: Dreamin' Demon]

UPDATE

Around 8 p.m. Saturday night, a couple of fishermen found a body floating in the Great Pee Dee River in Marion County, SC. No one has confirmed that the body was missing true crime writer Dale Hudson, but the body (an adult male) wasn't very far from Hudson's abandoned vehicle.

ORIGINAL POST

(William) Dale Hudson, age 56, is a noted true crime author of titles such as Dance of Death,

dhudsonbook.jpg
True crime book by Dale Hudson
​Kiss and Kill and All I Want to Do is Kill. Hudson has been missing since Wednesday, August 12. According to this Myrtle Beach, SC newspaper, that was the last time Hudson's wife heard from him. From Sun News writer Tonya Root:

"[Dale Hudson] was reported missing Friday by his wife after she last spoke to him Wednesday morning, Kegler said. Hudson's wife told police that he left at 8 a.m. Wednesday to go out of town for a business trip and at 11 a.m. that day he called to say he was getting a migraine headache and was going to rest.

"She said Hudson told her he would call her shortly and let her know where he was stopping to rest, but he never called back..."

On Friday, police found Hudson's empty vehicle in some woods in Marion County, SC. Detectives from a local violent crimes unit are investigating, but at the moment circumstances surrounding Hudson's disappearance and the abandonment of his vehicle are at best, murky.

In spite of Dale Hudson being part of this profession that delves into the worst sort of human behavior, assuming foul play was involved would be a big leap, at the moment.

Based on information from acknowledgments in his books, Hudson is a father to two children, DJ and Deegan, and at one time was married to Deborah. His house in Conway, SC, however, is owned by Hudson and Heidi Y. Herring, whom Hudson referred to as a "business partner" in his 2006 book, Die, Grandpa, Die.  South Carolina business records show that Dale Hudson had other business interests in addition to his true crime writing; in March of this year, he incorporated Southern Cross Psychiatric Services of South Carolina. 

Without talking inside baseball, I can say that there can sometimes be enmity among true crime scribes of all stripes, be they bloggers or the book authors (though it's worth noting I never heard a bad word from anyone about Dale Hudson). This is one time, I think, when we're all of a single mind. We hope our fellow chronicler of the darkness comes back home okay.

William Dale Hudson is 5'10" and weighs about 180 lbs. He has brown hair and blue eyes. If you have information pertaining to his whereabouts, call Horry County authorities at 843-248-1520.