ANDERSON COUNTY, South Carolina — Clemson University student and Benedictine College Preparatory graduate Samuel Joseph Cadden was killed Sunday in a single-vehicle crash in South Carolina. The 21-year-old student’s 2002 Jeep Liberty ran off the road and hit a tree, South Carolina State Police spokesman Cpl. William Rhyne said. Cadden was not wearing a seat belt, police added.
“He suffered sudden blunt force trauma. Speed and alcohol were a factor in this deadly crash,” Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said. “No one witnessed the crash and [the wreckage] was found over six hours later.”
The crash happened at about 2:46 a.m. on Route 76 about three miles from Clemson, South Carolina, police said.
Cadden graduated from Benedictine in 2013.
“Sam was a Sponsoring Officer, athlete and excellent student during his time at Benedictine,” Associate Headmaster Michael J. Bussman said. “His parents, Ken and Mary Cadden, were very involved in supporting Benedictine during Sam’s years here. Sam was a kind and humble man, and he had a great Catholic spirit. He loved Benedictine and his classmates very much. Sam will be greatly missed by all of us.”