Man facing sex abuse charges found dead at Salem Lake Park

88.5 WFDD - Public Radio For The Piedmont | By Amy Diaz

Published October 13, 2026 at 2:59 PM EDT

A man facing child sex abuse charges was found dead in Salem Lake Park over the weekend.

According to the Winston-Salem Police Department, a citizen reported finding a man dead along one of the park’s trails on Sunday.

Officers identified the deceased as 45-year-old Ryan Grey Hunter.

The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office had issued a warrant for his arrest on Oct. 10. He’d been facing five felony charges related to child sex abuse.

The WSPD says based on the investigation to date, there is no indication of foul play and they’re not seeking any suspects. No additional information is being released at this time.

Law enforcement officials say the area of the park where the man was found was temporarily blocked off, but has since reopened.

Amy Diaz

Amy Diaz began covering education in North Carolina’s Piedmont region and High Country for WFDD in partnership with Report For America in 2022. Before entering the world of public radio, she worked as a local government reporter in Flint, Mich. where she was named the 2021 Rookie Writer of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. Diaz is originally from Florida, where she interned at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and freelanced for the Tampa Bay Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Florida, but truly got her start in the field in elementary school writing scripts for the morning news. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.

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