They had no evidence that he had actually committed the crime, but they had his confession on-record, and at the very least, he had lied to investigators and caused them to waste valuable time by pursuing him as the suspect. In-between her 1988 disappearance and the 1998 confirmation that the skull belonged to her, they had prepared for the worst but anticipated Kia returning home. Earlier that morning, his mother had checked on him before leaving for work. "Normally there would be a family get-together in Saluda. James and Margaret Barnes walked into the bank together just after 1 p.m. and at 1:30 p.m. the panic button had been pushed. On the evening on May 15, 1988, Kia and Renee were playing basketball with a friend at the court of a nearby park, located 300 yards from their apartment complex. Police interviewed a few of Paynes friends and coworkers but didnt learn much. Hampton was known to spend a good amount of time on this farm, and it remained on the investigator's radar for a good amount of time after this initial confession. Bernetta spent a few minutes searching the area around the apartment complex, but when she couldnt find her daughter, she called the Greenwood County Sheriffs Office to report her as missing. Also, the Kia Reward Fund is growing and we are hopeful that this will bring someone forward with positive information. The ratio of all residents to sex offenders in Greenwood is 1,836 to 1. It took over a decade, but Kia's parents were finally given answers as to what had happened ot their daughter. Georgetown has always been a family-type community. Through interviews, police learned two or three men had come over to the house prior to the shooting. Contact staff writer Damian Dominguez at 864-634-7548 or follow on Twitter @IJDDOMINGUEZ. However, with DNA testing being in its infancy, it would be years before they could definitively test the skull for forensic proof. In 2009, the Malakia Logan Memorial Scholarship was established at her hometown's Lander University. On Sunday, July 17, 1966, a brutal triple murder took three lives in Henderson County, N.C. To this day, after-effects from the grisly slayings of Vernon Shipman, Charles Glass and Louise Davis. "We're also looking for a faded dark blue or black Monte Carlo, a mid-70's model. Charles Wade Hampton were eventually charged with Malakia's murder, but the mystery remains unsolved. Within the year, the Malakia Z. Logan Reward Fund had topped $20,000, for any information that would lead to answers for the missing eight-year old. It was a Sunday in Greenwood, South Carolina - a small town roughly an hour north of Augusta, Georgia and about an hour-and-a-half west of Columbia, South Carolina. The Unraveling of the Murdaugh Dynasty: Unsolved Murders, Insurance Fraud and Missing Millions Since South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh admitted last week to trying to stage his own murder, the . It wasn't until the sister returned to the apartment complex half-an-hour later that anyone realized this eight-year old was missing. James Paul Freund (September 16, 1946 - August 9, 1976) and Pamela Mae Buckley (December 16, 1951 - August 9, 1976), commonly known as the Sumter County Does, Jock Doe and Jane Doe respectively, [5] were two previously unidentified American murder victims found in Sumter County, South Carolina on August 9, 1976. In most cases, they were sexually assaulted before being abandoned in a public setting, but at least one of the girls wasn't she was simply abducted and then dumped off at a gas station, where she was able to call for help. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account.
South Carolina's unsolved mysteries - WYFF You see, despite being let go, he was arrested in 1996 after drilling some holes in the wall of the women's bathroom. Create a password that only you will remember. Malakia Logan Unresolved Malakia Logan Two years before the disappearance of the Millbrook Twins, and six years before Tiffany Nelson went missing, another African American girl went missing about an hour north - in a small town called Greenwood, South Carolina. It seems that there may be been two suspects who were trying to rob the bank. Video from the area showed a car with someone hanging out of the back passenger window and firing. He admitted to committing three child abductions in northern Georgia and confessed to having killed a child at an out-of-state farm. The DNA testing from the six sexual assaults linked them together, indicating that a single suspect was behind each of the crimes - however, none of those samples matched up with Hampton himself. Hampton plead not guilty almost instantly. Renee and their friend decided to stay at the court for a short while longer. Scary. A lot of times what you hear law enforcement say is we dont want to give a lot of details out because the case is still pending, he said.
Uncovered: Unsolved South Carolina Murders When does she have the time, you ask? As of this episode's recording, the abduction and murder of Malakia Zali Logan remains unresolved. It's like a depression has set in.". ddominguez@indexjournal.com. He described not only his sex life - which included sex with both genders - but his prior criminal history. When it was finally time for Hampton to be released, he was immediately re-arrested for a warrant investigators had planned. I'm going down today and make my donation and I challenge you, be you a parent, citizen or business, if you're really concerned about what happens to the children of the Greenwood Community, go down to any office of the County Bank and make your donation. On October 1, 1990, a deer hunter was walking along a pasture in a wooded area on US Forest Service Property in Newberry County, South Carolina. Contact staff writer Damian Dominguez at 864-634-7548 or follow on twitter @IJDDOMINGUEZ. Malakia Kia Zali Logan was born on August 1, 1979 to parents Richard and Bernetta Logan. Low 44F. Upon being let out of prison, he was immediately re-arrested for the 1995 abduction and rape of a 7-year-old victim from Richland County, South Carolina. His height was listed in the range of 5'8" or 5'9", and he was of slight build, in the weight range of 150 pounds. As time passed, approximately 13,853 of those murders were solved, leaving the state with approximately 3,868 unsolved murders in South Carolina as of the last website update. Let's send the message forth: "Greenwood County folks get right upset when one of their children is criminally abused. The felony, which carried a potential ten year sentence, was handed down shortly after his plea. Sam Riley, who had been a Major in the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office, had recently been elected Sheriff. At the time of his arrest, he was forty-four years old, and was driving a white 1986 Dodge 600. But we can't prove it. Anyone with information on any of these shootings is urged to contact police by calling 864-942-8407, sending them a message through the departments Facebook page, or through the anonymous online tip form at cityofgreenwoodsc.com/departments/police/submit-an-anonymous-tip. On July 4th, the Greenwood-area newspaper, the Index Journal, ran a story detailing Kia's mom, Bernetta Logan, as she struggled with the disappearance of her youngest daughter. As police tried to pinpoint the motive for Hampton's confessions, the forensic analysis they were hoping to rely on brought back an intriguing proposition. When her sisters were questioned, only the 6-year-old stated that a man with a 'magic' hat came and took Jessica away. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. He had been handcuffed, bound with duct tape, and shot in the head. This would come up later in the story, so please keep that in-mind. Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. Greenwood County Sheriff Giles Daniel stated that calls were still pouring in about Kia, either potential sightings or people that may know something. Date of Death: October 25, 2011 Location: 15 Spartanburg Court, Apt. They did, however, share a similar suspect description of a middle-aged white man with grey stubble, a pockmarked complexion and a tattoo of either a dragon or a snake on one of his biceps. Will they ever find out what happened and who these two young people were? He was sentenced to eight years in prison, with credit for time served and good behaviour. As an adult, he stood about five-feet-eight-inches tall, weighing it at only 132 pounds. Those early tests were inconclusive, relying on DNA found in the skull itself in very primitive ways. Dennis Beauford, the responding deputy, ended up staying the night on the couch of the Logan family, waiting for there to be any ransom calls or communication from Kia herself. The wooded area he was in, just off of Mount Pleasant Road - also known as S.C. 34 - is about four miles northeast of Newberry and thirty-five miles east of Greenwood, where Kia Logan had disappeared from. And in that time, more terrifying and intriguing mysteries would present themselves. Call the Charleston County Consolidated Dispatch Center at 843-743-7200 and ask to speak to a Detective in the Charleston Police Department Violent Crimes Unit. Trending pages Kari Lynn Nixon Dana Satterfield Superbike Motorsports Murders Jessica Gutierrez Michele Whitaker Complete the Cold Case Tip Form (PDF). Over the coming weeks, the leads that Sheriff Giles Daniel was excited about began to dry up, either leading to dead ends or going nowhere at all. Get Alerts Map; Browse By State; Submit a Crime Tip Square with arrow pointing upper right. Then, when her family and former-sheriff Sam Riley got involved, they realized that the initial reward fund - which had been established for information - had remained untouched for around two decades. Charles Hampton agreed to give up blood and hair samples to investigators. Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Bullets damaged the window of a residence and shot through a TV inside. Police spoke with about 20 people in the area, but few had anything to report. No closure.
South Carolina's Number One Unsolved Mystery - OnlyInYourState An initial search of the area around the apartment complex by investigators led to the discovery of Kias bicycle, which was located in the parking lot, just outside of the apartment office. Gunshots were heard on Pearl Street near Osborne Avenue. When the skull was discovered in 1990, it proved a lone clue in a vast sea of nothingness. In the case of Malik Padgetts slaying at a party in 2013 on Tabor Street, more than 100 people were at the scene but no witness was able to identify a suspect. In 2009, the Malakia Logan Memorial Scholarship was established at Lander University, in her hometown of Greenwood, South Carolina. The results were testing alongside DNA taken from Kia's parents, Bernetta and Richard, and this time, it proved consistent. Little else could be determined of the victim or how they had died, as the skull showed no signs of obvious trauma or any bullet holes. Somewhere out there is someone who knows something about each one of these mysteries and it is up to us to not let them grow cold. But, rather, because he has said some very damning things about himself and committed some criminal acts, none of which would paint him as a flattering neighbor. A random child abduction that went "sour" - usually a byproduct of a victim choosing to fight back, or attempting to run away. Homicides dont get closed. It took police a while to line up the suspect description because the vehicles in-question varied based on each witness: two described the vehicle they had been abducted in as a champagne-gold Mazda, while others pointed out either a white Toyota Corolla or a white Chevy Celebrity. About two weeks earlier, Cody Hawkins was shot in an apparent drive-by shooting May 19 on Pearl Street, close to Osborne Avenue. When it was discovered by her parents that she was gone there was no trace to follow. You see, in 1981, he had been arrested and convicted for the rape of a sixteen-year old, telling interrogators that his seminal fluid had been used to convict him. Then at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, Greenwood police found Ramsey sitting on the steps outside his Thornbrook Court apartment with what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to the head. Anyone with information on any of Greenwood's homicides is asked to call law enforcement at 911, or police detectives at 864-942-8407. But that optimisim would be short-lived, as weeks began to bleed into months. Jump to a detailed profile, search site with google or try advanced search. Her granddaughter, Ashley, had been friends with both Kia and Renee Logan, and had actually been playing with the two on the basketball court shortly before Kia disappeared. "The 10 Best New Mystery and Thriller Books of December are Giving Us Literal Chills"E! Chaudoin said he plans to start a monthly cold case briefing within the next few months, to share information with the public about these cases in the hopes of inspiring tipsters. The sketch came from the witness sightings of the second person-of-interest, who had been driving the dark mid-70's model Monte Carlo. The Sheriffs Office, along with other law enforcement and volunteer agencies, conducted a three week search of the area, but were unable to locate any other remains. It bothers me that we seem willing to accept this obvious crime against a child without a public uproar.
The Unraveling of the Murdaugh Dynasty: Unsolved Murders - WSJ Detectives will re-interview witnesses and relatives of victims to try and find any new leads. City-data.com does not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of any information on this site. Between 1995 and 1996, the states of Georgia and South Carolina began investigating a series of sexual assaults that occurred along a specific interstate. She, also, went missing while riding her bike very close to her home, in a public setting. (LogOut/ These two men were not immediately believed to be suspects, but were wanted for questioning. A bouncer remembers talking to her around 1:30 a.m. before she walked out of the club. You can also contact the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division at (803) 737-9000. Police were called to the scene, and the skull was taken into police custody for testing. Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. We won't share it with anyone else. Charles Wade Hampton later plead guilty to obstruction of justice charges, which stemmed from him lying to investigators. However, police and investigators have yet to find any more of Kia Logan's remains, and remain hopeful that those will turn up some day, allowing them to fully pursue a suspect or person-of-interest in the crimes. They're no closer today than they were back in 1988 when Kia was snatched up.
The Sorority Murder - Greenwood County Library System - OverDrive The best hidden gems and little known destinations - straight to your inbox. Name. During these searches, they uncovered many out-of-place items, as well as images of nude women and adults, a pornographic magazine, torn-out magazine images of children and several photographs of children in their underwear. Both of these generated more leads of possible sightings of Kia Logan and suspects bearing a resemblance of the composite of a man wanted for questioning. They tried to use the dental records and skull reconstruction techniques available to them, in an effort to determine if the skull was Kia's, but nothing was positively confirmed. People with information are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. How can we send such a message? Throughout the 30+ year investigation, various leads and suspects would come and go. Ghosts and paranormal activities are pretty normal in a . At around the time these sexual assaults came to an end, in the summer of 1996, police began to eye a specific sexual deviant as a potential suspect. It is believed that the subjects were attempting to rob his neighbor's apartment. They had held out hope that someone had abducted her for ransom, or perhaps - just perhaps - she actually had run away. During the investigation, police drove him around to many of the abduction sites, and while he was able to share some information, he didnt know any of the minute details the actual perpetrator would, leading them to believe he was making up his confessions. Anyone with information on those cases is urged to call law enforcement. Payne was shot at about 9:40 p.m. June 12 at 117 Klugh St. Officers arrived on scene with a medical bag, sealing two bullet wounds to his chest. The Disappearance of Nguyet Thu Wiki Phung, Case Update: Brittanee Drexels Remains Discovered After 13 Years, SuspectCharged, The Disappearances of Tina & BethanySinclair. She didn't want to miss any potential calls from Kia. Unfortunately, the searches came up with no sign of Kia, or any clue as to what had happened to her. Cold cases and unsolved crimes in Greenwood, SC. He lifted his shirt and officers saw Perez had two gunshot wounds on his right side. Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. There was no identification on them, but it was surmised they were traveling or 'backpacking'. Hampton would plead guilty to his original felony Peeping Tom charge, meaning that he would be spending the next five years in state prison. When asked about the rash of sexual assaults against children, he suspiciously stated that the person responsible "would know how not to get caught," at least this time. This would prove to be one of the only clues found during the course of the investigation. He would be sixty-five years old as of this episode's recording, and there's only a brief mention of him on the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's sex offender registry. It was occupied by a white male, thirty-five to forty years of age, slender built, lean or pointed facial features with brownish blond hair with sun streaks.". Higher means more crime, U.S. average is 254.8. Given the case theyd put together, they were prepared to pursue the death penalty.
Six have gone unsolved. If they wanted to try him for any of those crimes, they needed a more definitive smoking gun. This meant that investigators now had half-a-decade to try and work out a case against him. You will receive your first email soon. Freeman died at the hospital while being treated for his injuries. She never came home with her sister. He recognized one of the men but wasnt able to give police a description before EMS staff arrived to treat him. Those with information regarding the case can contact the Greenwood County Sheriffs Office at 864-942-8600 or the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division at 803-737-9000. He was sentenced to eight years, with time already served. Advertisement Investigators with the Greenwood Police. "Cold cases" isn't the term Greenwood Police Chief T.J. Chaudoin likes to use for his department's unsolved homicides. South Carolina is loaded with history and ghostly tales of suspense. At the time of her disappearance, Reinaldo Javier "Ray" Rivera, now a convicted serial killer, was attending the University of South Carolina. Share your news tips and story ideas with us. The composite, for all of its intrigue, led to no real suspects in the surrounding area. Gwen is an author, artist, illustrator, graphic designer, mother, wife, and part-time super hero. Not only were Georgia and South Carolina preparing cases against him, but North Carolina and Florida were investigating him for similar child abductions and sexual assaults in their states. When human remains are found and the identity of the deceased person is unknown, this unit provides artistic renderings of what the victim/person may have looked like in life. The next day, a retired pediatrician named Casper E. Wiggins wrote a heartfelt editorial in the Index Journal, which read as follows: " A child is missing, and apart from the few days immediately after her kidnapping, the public outcry has been next to nothing. She hopped on her bike and began riding back to her mother's apartment - a distance no greater than three-hundred yards. Nothing more is known On a cold and rainy Thursday morning Jeremy Grice mysteriously vanished from his North Augusta home. Greenwood's law enforcement now working 4 unsolved homicides, By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ Between the 2002 indictment and this, he had accrued nearly five years of time served. In an idling SUV, Sherwin Gittens was found dead by police. He also soon recanted all of his prior confessions, meaning that police had to start back from square one. A follow-up news article stated how employees of the local K-Mart, so moved by Wiggins' battle cry, raised $650 within an hour. One person said they saw a man running from the area between two of the apartment complexs buildings. His ex-wife and girlfriend agreed on that - they often helped him dye it, during time periods that turned out to correlate with the 1995 and 1996 sexual assaults. One of the most intriguing and promising leads in this investigation came on that Wednesday night, May 18th, when a composite sketch of a potential suspect was aired on the evening news. ", Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster also shared his thoughts, referring to the active state of the investigation or rather, the lack of one: "I can't think of anything worse than losing a child to an act of violence, then on top of that losing a child which you really don't know what happened.". However, because of its size, they were able to determine that the victim had been thirteen years of age or younger. Cold cases isnt the term Greenwood Police Chief T.J. Chaudoin likes to use for his departments unsolved homicides.
Murdered Paul Murdaugh reportedly had more brushes with law - New York Post "We're looking for a medium blue utility-type van with dark tinted windows. So, he'll be back on the street. They also tried to see if her disappearance was tied to other missing persons cases from surrounding states. Police also found actual pairs of children's underwear in his laundry, which then sent in for forensic testing. There are just no leads or evidence to go on even though the police push every avenue they come across.
Malakia Logan Unresolved There was no identification on them, but it was surmised they were traveling or 'backpacking'. Despite this overwhelming sadness experienced by Bernetta and her family at this moment in time, the article had a profound effect on the community. By this point, her family had begun to fear the worst. Tiffany, whose case I covered in the last episode, was found in a shallow grave roughly twenty miles away from where she had gone missing. They all lived in housing close to the highway in-question, and they were all abducted from one location and led to another. An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account. Three other people were shot that day and taken to the hospital by others, but many in the crowd said they saw nothing and police couldnt confirm the nature of the shooting. He has a folder in his office with the reports on each of these cases, and he said hes read some of them upwards of 15 times. Families were barbecuing, having picnics, and hanging out in the pool, while children were playing all around the complex. By Thursday, May 19th, the mood in the Georgetown apartment complex had changed dramatically. People were arrested in connection with this case, a report said, but witnesses recanted their statements and the suspects were released for lack of evidence. It's a town of roughly 20,000 people - a population level that hasn't really changed in over thirty years. This not being enough, the skull would later be sent to an FBI lab in 1998. She had one sister, named Renee, and the three lived in an apartment complex just north of Greenwood, South Carolina. Calling them cold cases implies they're no longer active, but Chaudoin. Lucas Vega is obsessed with the death of Candace Swa. A clear sky. We're scraping the bottom right now.". Soon, children began playing outside of the Georgetown apartments once again, Kia's disappearance becoming an outlier to a safe community. Zykevious Ramseys sister, Jada Leverette, said her brother was a loving, quiet and kind person, and she didnt know who or why someone killed him early Tuesday morning. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Parker told police he heard a knock at the front door and opened it, then was shot by one of the two men there. We must not forget the ones that have left us mysteriously. Officers spoke to a witness who said they were near Hawkins when he was shot. Earlier in the day, they had been aided by helicopters provided by SLED - the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, a statewide police agency. His stepfather was watching him in her absence. In fact, police noted that he might have been a little TOO eager at times. South Carolina's Law Enforcement Division spokesman Hugh Munn stated about the composite drawing which the authorities had debuted the evening before: "We've done all the groundwork we can. Many of these details matched up with what police had heard from the victims themselves - but others did not.
Lawyer Shot After Wife and Son Were Killed Had Been Pushed Out of Law Investigators with the S.C. Highway Patrol ( SCHP . We couldn't prove this case.". This was when he was transferred to a jail in Greenwood county - the same county where Kia Logan had disappeared from in 1988. I think it's important to note this, not because I definitively believe him to be the person responsible for Kia Logan's abduction or murder. 8th Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace, who had replaced William Townes Jones in the preceding half-decade, had plenty to say about this decision. Five people in his. However, no evidence has been found to link him to Dail's case and interviews with him have been sadly uninformative. Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. He spoke about the skull as well, stating about his communication with the Newberry County Sheriff's Office: "We were in contact with them yesterday and we will be in contact with them again today. A witness spotted two men running from the area after the shooting, and they got into a small silver four-door vehicle parked at a nearby gas station. Her father was the mayor of Saluda, a small town in South Carolina, and her mother was a teacher at a local middle school. However, Kia lived with her mother, Bernetta Logan Baylor, who was a teacher at a nearby middle school. In particular, they went after him for comments he had made between his 2000 release from prison and his 2002 re-arrest, in which he had confessed to the 1995 abduction of a five-year old girl from Richland County and the subsequent sexual assault. Police did not share the part of town in which the shooting happened. They haven't made any positive identification yet. They combed around the Georgetown Apartments for most of the night, until the lack of light eventually led to them turning it around. Police and prosecutors seemed certain at the time of this indictment - November 6th, 2002 - that Charles Hampton was responsible for the abduction and murder of Malakia Zali Logan. Police checked for fingerprints and gunshot residue, along with pulling Parkers phone records to identify who he had spoken with. I am criticizing the rest of us who thrive in our community yet appear apathetic. Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster told the media: "It was obvious that it was the skull of a child. Since that time two ponds have been drained, searches have been conducted, and a serial killer (who would have been a teenager at that time) has been interviewed all to no avail. The County Bank is accepting and receipting donations. You have permission to edit this article. Carolyn Kelley, the apartment/property manager that lived in the apartments with her daughter and granddaughter, had noticed a complete overhaul of the environment. Renee arrived home approximately 15 to 20 minutes later and it was discovered that Kia had not returned. According to our research of South Carolina and other state lists, there were 13 registered sex offenders living in Greenwood, South Carolina as of March 04, 2023. ", "People are definitely keeping small children in. Research revealed that Lori had married Nathaniel Richardson in February of 1994 and that is where the trail grows cold.