Robert Dustin Burleson, 43, was found dead from apparent gunshot wounds inside his Dink Street residence in Sumter in the early hours of May 7, 2025. A concerned individual alerted Sumter County Dispatch, and deputies and EMS pronounced Burleson dead at the scene; the coroner confirmed the death and an autopsy was scheduled at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Known as Dusty, Burleson was a Sumter native who drew and made art, worked for years as a carpenter with his father, and was remembered by family as a kind, sweet-spirited son, brother, and uncle. Investigators say evidence points to a personal dispute between Burleson and another man.

On the same day Burleson’s body was discovered, deputies executed a search warrant at the home of 44-year-old Michael William Dow and arrested him without incident. Dow was charged with murder, first-degree burglary, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and trafficking in cocaine, and is being held without bond. The investigation remains ongoing.

Did anyone in Sumter know Robert Dusty Burleson or have information about his movements on May 6–7, 2025?