On May 18, 1988, police released a statement to the public, which informed residents that two men were seen in the vicinity of the apartment complex on the afternoon Kia went missing. With these two most recent homicides, the number of unsolved slayings in recent years for Greenwood County climbs to four. When they searched his home, they found several photographs of children in underwear, as well as various photos of nude adults - including pictures of Hampton himself. GREENWOOD, SC (WSPA) A rally in front of the Greenwood Courthouse brought families of nearly a half dozen murder victims together Tuesday afternoon. It was August 9, 1976, on a deserted road in Sumter County, SC, when a trucker happened upon the scene of the murders. These two men were not immediately believed to be suspects, but were wanted for questioning. This meant that investigators now had half-a-decade to try and work out a case against him. 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. The murder is being investigated by the Columbia Police Department. To get justice for them, Chaudoin said he sometimes asks officers if there are forensic techniques that could reveal new leads. Login; . ddominguez@indexjournal.com. Even though you cant say I understand what youre going through, because I have not lost a child, you have to just be with them, answer the questions they have and be available to them when they need to talk and reach out to you.. In the weeks since Kia had gone missing, Bernetta struggled to leave the phone for any prolonged period of time. At the scene, people were scrambling into cars and driving off, including someone driving Hawkins to the hospital for treatment. When does she have the time, you ask? Early on in questioning, Charles admitted that he often changed his hair color. 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. Soon, children began playing outside of the Georgetown apartments once again, Kia's disappearance becoming an outlier to a safe community. We are also following up on similar situations that occur in this area and nationwide.". South Carolina is loaded with history and ghostly tales of suspense. Investigators had been pursuing clues as far away as California, and trying to tie Kia's disappearance to other stories of missing children in the surrounding states. 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. Tipsters can also reach out on Facebook, or submit a tip anonymously online at bit.ly/3zN6rM2. The documentation for this case included a lead sheet filed in April 2020, where an officer detailed dozens of interviews done in this case, along with tips detectives have followed up on. "The case is 19 years old; the family has been living with it for 19 years. Its not just about arresting a suspect, Chaudoin said, its about building a case the states prosecutors can get a conviction with. "Cold cases" isn't the term Greenwood Police Chief T.J. Chaudoin likes to use for his department's unsolved homicides. 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. He had been handcuffed, bound with duct tape, and shot in the head. Officers spoke to a witness who said they were near Hawkins when he was shot. Bernetta, the girls' mother, began looking around the apartment complex for eight-year old Kia. He was described as white, between the ages of 35 and 40, 58 to 59 tall and 250 pounds. 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. Police had continued to interview people within the apartment complex, hoping to learn more about these two mysterious men and any ties they had to the tenants. [6] It wasn't until the third or fourth crime that police began to link the crimes together, when the suspect descriptions began to slowly align with one another. From video footage they have been able to piece together that the car was a red Oldsmobile Alero made between 1999 and 2003. It is believed that the subjects were attempting to rob his neighbor's apartment. What happened to little Jeremy? 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.". On September 23, 1992, Dail Dinwiddie vanished into the night as she was walking along Harden Street in Columbia, SC. Learn how your comment data is processed. However, they were not positively identified until 1998, ten years after she vanished. It all pointed to a very confusing puzzle, which police didn't know how to make sense of. Many of these details matched up with what police had heard from the victims themselves - but others did not. He died later at the hospital. Police interviewed a few of Paynes friends and coworkers but didnt learn much. Riley, a famously tight-lipped officer, stated: "We're treating it strictly as a missing persons report. Parker told police he heard a knock at the front door and opened it, then was shot by one of the two men there. Thats why its so important that we build that relationship with the community and we have that working relationship, he said. After 11'000 days, 30 years and 29 of those years on death row, Edward Lee Elmore was freed in 2012. Three days following Hawkins slaying, police found about 40 shell casings in the area around 526 Sumter St. Her father, Richard Logan, was the mayor of a small South Carolina town named Saluda. On October 1st, 1990 - a Monday - a hunter was in an area just outside of Newberry, South Carolina. She was a small girl, who had been wearing yellow shorts, a yellow-and-white polka-dot shirt, and slip-on shoes on the evening she disappeared. It has been over a decade since there was any news or developments in the investigation, with it seeming to entering the pantheon of cold cases which will likely never be truly solved. As Hampton prepared for his five-year sentence, he was facing investigations and charges from four separate states. South Carolina's unsolved mysteries Greenville, SC 29601 62 Light Rain 90% MORE No Alerts & Closings in Your Area Sign Up to Get Future Alerts 1 / 2 Advertisement TOP PICKS South. "I hope wherever she (Kia) is, she's safe and alive and she'll be home soon. Invalid password or account does not exist. Detectives will re-interview witnesses and relatives of victims to try and find any new leads. So, he'll be back on the street. 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. She loves to tackle her dreams head on and takes life by storm. There is nothing left to tell about this case unfortunately. I only say "likely" because I legitimately can't find any record of him online or in the press since 2007. However, with DNA testing being in its infancy, it would be years before they could definitively test the skull for forensic proof. Police were beginning to become certain that Hampton had simply been lying to them in order to obtain special privileges: such as trips outside of jail, meals, coffee, and cigarettes. On October 1, 1990, Malakia's remains were found in a wooded area on U.S. Forest Service property in Newberry County. It was not long until 52-year-old Charles Wade Hampton, a maintenance worker at the Hard Labor Creek State Park rest stop in Georgia and a former employee of the Department of Transportation, came onto police radar. He was more than willing to continue talking, even answering questions about his prior sexual assault conviction from 1981. An unsolved murder. If they wanted to try him for any of those crimes, they needed a more definitive smoking gun. Examining the world of solved and unsolved cases. In an idling SUV, Sherwin Gittens was found dead by police. Through interviews, police learned two or three men had come over to the house prior to the shooting. While some descriptions of this suspect varied - such as at least one of the girls calling the suspect "fat in his tummy" and the perpetrator's hair color varying - these details were all universally agreed upon. However, theyd waited to pursue their case, as they didnt want to risk activating an interstate agreement between Georgia and South Carolina, which would have required them to have brought Hampton to trial within 180 days of the charges being laid. However, Kia lived with her mother, Bernetta Logan Baylor, who was a teacher at a nearby middle school. Dennis Beauford, one of the first deputies to arrive at the scene, stated: "It was a pretty Sunday afternoon. Pity us if we don't! Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Winds light and variable. "The 10 Best New Mystery and Thriller Books of December are Giving Us Literal Chills"E! They were both prepared to pursue the death penalty in the upcoming criminal trial, which they were allowed to for any kidnapping or sexual assault charges when the victim was eleven years old or younger. "Every time I open up the evidence room door, I see the bike and it's haunted me. After a few days, the Director of Greenwoods Emergency Preparedness said the group would be suspending their involvement in the search and would wait for law enforcement to request further assistance before getting involved again. 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. Jessica, a pretty little girl with brown hair and sparkling brown eyes went to bed on June 5, 1986, along with her two sisters. Police took Hampton out of jail, and drove him to many of the landmarks and locations from the child abductions. Perez took police to another man lying on a concrete pad behind an apartment. 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. Greenwood is the type of town you imagine when you think of rural America: a downtown comprised of brick buildings, a railroad track that separates the storefronts from the industrial area, and a large suburban population. There was no identification on them, but it was surmised they were traveling or 'backpacking'. South Carolina Department of Social Services; South Carolina Dept Health & Environmental Control; . The investigation to find her had still gone nowhere truly productive, with police beginning to expand their search out of the area according to some in the police department, even out of the state. It happened around 9:15 p.m. at a home. It was early morning, October 2001 on Interstate 526. Stabbed DNA testing confirmed her identity. You can also contact the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division at (803) 737-9000. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. Is it twisted thinking? It wasn't until the sister returned to the apartment complex half-an-hour later that anyone realized this eight-year old was missing. 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. Every state has its unsolved mysteries and South Carolina, unfortunately, is not without its own. It was this apartment complex where, on a Sunday evening in the middle of May, everything seemed right with the world. After this discovery, interrogators circled back around to Hampton. There at that mailbox is the last place Jeremy was seen. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, with credit for time served and good behaviour. Police noted that he had a snake tattoo on his upper arm, as well as his initials - C.H. He recognized one of the men but wasnt able to give police a description before EMS staff arrived to treat him. In all of the sexual assaults, the victim profile remained largely the same. She had one sister, named Renee, and the three lived in an apartment complex just north of Greenwood, South Carolina. Kia was a third grade student at Merrywood Elementary School. Contact staff writer Damian Dominguez at 864-634-7548 or follow on twitter @IJDDOMINGUEZ. Charles Hampton agreed to give up blood and hair samples to investigators. ddominguez@indexjournal.com. Earlier in the day, they had been aided by helicopters provided by SLED - the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, a statewide police agency. Welldo you really need that much sleep? Chaudoin provided the investigative reports detailing these open homicide investigations: A 911 caller found Parker lying on his bedroom floor at about 8:30 p.m. Nov. 2, 2006 on Leonard Street. "It's definitely changed the lifestyle here. The composite is the latest thing we have and we're trying to develop leads from that. He reported him missing at 10 a.m. that morning. This not being enough, the skull would later be sent to an FBI lab in 1998. Police also found actual pairs of children's underwear in his laundry, which then sent in for forensic testing. Renee and their friend decided to stay at the court for a short while longer. The crime spree began in July 1995 and carried on until August of 1996. Two months into the investigation, at least one thing was crystal clear: Kia Logan may have been missing, but she most certainly wasn't going to be forgotten. On May 30th, over two weeks after Kia had disappeared, investigators were still optimistic. 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. There are just no leads or evidence to go on even though the police push every avenue they come across. Cold cases and unsolved crimes in Greenwood, SC. 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. They all decided to put the money to good use, allowing education or nursing majors to receive the scholarship in times of hardship. Officers did find an air pistol at a nearby street corner, along with a car with a shot-out window. Numerous people called in potential sightings of Kia or of people who may know something about the case. His stepfather was watching him in her absence. They're no closer today than they were back in 1988 when Kia was snatched up. He had bloodstains on his clothes and was trying to tell officers something, but he didnt speak English. It adjusts for the number of visitors and daily workers commuting into cities. Few details have been gleaned from interviews. In 2009, the Malakia Logan Memorial Scholarship was established at Lander University, in her hometown of Greenwood, South Carolina. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Sam Riley, who had been a Major in the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office, had recently been elected Sheriff. The Greenwood County Sheriffs Office can be reached at 864-942-8632, or by calling CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. A Mother and Son Are Found Murdered, Deepening a Mystery in South Carolina. GREENWOOD, S.C. Cody Hawkins, 24, was shot and killed May 19 about 2:50 a.m. Charles Wade Hampton was born on September 21st, 1952. Invalid password or account does not exist. In-between the apartment's basketball court and her front door, this little girl had disappeared. He'll be back on the street. When the police finally arrived they found all three of the victims in a utility room in the back of the bank. The composite, for all of its intrigue, led to no real suspects in the surrounding area. Over the next week, the letter written by Dr. Wiggins inspired many to pledge support to the Malakia Z. Logan Reward Fund. In the past 21 years the departments digital records system goes back, there were 55 murders reported to the police. The case surrounding Kias disappearance was initially investigated as a simple missing persons report. Research revealed that Lori had married Nathaniel Richardson in February of 1994 and that is where the trail grows cold. Alex Murdaugh Charged With Fraud After Asking Former Client to Kill Him. 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. Police would find out what happened to this little girl over the years, but it would take time, advancements in DNA technology, and the persistence of dedicated investigators. On May 16, 1988, approximately 75 people, including citizen volunteers, conducted another search of the area around the apartment complex, aided by helicopters provided by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, also known as SLED. Your e-mail address will be used to confirm your account. This meant that police were pretty confident that the skull had been intentionally left there. The Murdaugh Murders, Money & Mystery offers an in-depth look at the unfolding criminal saga centered around disgraced former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh. When her sister, Renee, went home approximately twenty to thirty minutes later, she was surprised to find out that Kia had not yet returned. 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. ", "People are definitely keeping small children in. To this day, the case remains open and unsolved. They had been shot. 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. Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. 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. Police have deduced that she was killed Greenwood County and her body dumped in Newberry County. Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster told the media: "It was obvious that it was the skull of a child. On this Sunday afternoon, in the middle of May, all seemed to be well. Between the 2002 indictment and this, he had accrued nearly five years of time served. Police recovered six shell casings and spoke with witnesses who heard the shooting, but didnt see the car the shooter drove by in, according to a report. That was when police announced that they were looking for two men, who had been seen in the vicinity of the Georgetown apartment complex late Sunday afternoon. 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. Anyone with information on any of Greenwoods homicides is asked to call law enforcement at 911, or police detectives at 864-942-8407. Prosecutors, once-confident that the case against him was looking rock-solid, were now worried about not having enough evidence against him. Jump to a detailed profile, search site with google or try advanced search. How can we send such a message? No one knows what really happened in that short span of time. However, by the time the skull was forensically proven as belonging to Kia Logan, they had come across a suspect they believed was not only responsible for Kia's death, but an assortment of various sexual assaults and crimes against children. Online"10 Books to Cozy Up With This December"PopSugar A popular sorority girl. This indictment was signed by 8th Circuit Solicitor William Townes Jones - the same William Townes Jones whose daughter, Townes, was given international popularity in the Harry Styles' song "Carolina.". However, no evidence has been found to link him to Dail's case and interviews with him have been sadly uninformative. In 1996, the testing of mitochondrial DNA was performed at a genetics lab in North Carolina. This search continued until it was too dark, but resumed the next day. As of this episode's recording, the abduction and murder of Malakia Zali Logan remains unresolved. She said that she didn't actually see him, but his bedcovers were pulled up so she assumed that he was asleep. Choose wisely! Speaking about the indictment, longtime Greenwood County Sheriff Sam Riley stated: "There was no relationship between him and Kia. Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. ", Riley, of course, was Major Sam Riley of the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office. They searched pretty exhaustively for around three weeks, unable to locate any more remains other than the skull. When it was finally time for Hampton to be released, he was immediately re-arrested for a warrant investigators had planned. However, they did say they would pursue new charges, should new evidence surface. The prosecutors consulted Kia's family throughout this process, taking their feelings into consideration. 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. Witnesses said they hadnt seen Kia near the men or getting into either of their vehicles. Victims advocates play an important role in communicating with the families of people killed, and officers work to be up-front and communicate often with the families. That day - Monday, May 16th - approximately seventy-five people helped conduct a search around the apartment complex. The searches and canvass of the apartment complex continued on into Tuesday, but police wouldn't release another public statement until May 18th - Wednesday. Hampton would plead guilty to his original felony Peeping Tom charge, meaning that he would be spending the next five years in state prison. As another family started mourning Tuesday, Greenwood law enforcement had another shooting on their hands to solve. They had been playing basketball together when Malakia decided to go home. But that optimisim would be short-lived, as weeks began to bleed into months. Unfortunately, this didn't seem remiss and then in 2007, her mother passed away and that is where the story begins. Name: Date: Victims: Location : A: Sylvester Lewis ADAMS October 17, 1979: 1: South Carolina, USA: Quincy Javon ALLEN July-August 2002: 4: South Carolina, USA : John . One way is to make the amount of the reward really impressive and/or tempting. Remember, this is before the trial of OJ Simpson, so DNA testing was very much in its infancy. Police department Public Information Officer Jonathan Link said investigators are continuing to work with the information theyve gathered in each of these cases, and that theyve tried to get more information through interviewing witnesses and other people of interest. One man who had met the couple stated that the man, Jacques, had told him that his father was a physician in Canada. Soon, the one-year anniversary of Kia's disappearance had come-and-gone. Can't we show at least as much concern for the fate of a child? They combed around the Georgetown Apartments for most of the night, until the lack of light eventually led to them turning it around. Another description was vague, calling it simply an older model white compact or subcompact with blue interior. The message we should be sending far and wide is not one emphasizing our public apathy, but one which loudly reveals that the people of Greenwood County will not sit idly by while our children disappear! Investigators with the S.C. Highway Patrol ( SCHP . Charles Wade Hampton were eventually charged with Malakia's murder, but the mystery remains unsolved. They're going to search for other skeletal remains in identification.". When Hampton stopped cooperating with police and withdrew his previous statements taking credit for the 1995 and 1996 sexual assaults, police realized that they needed to build a case around evidence, not just his comments. Greenwood's law enforcement now working 4 unsolved homicides, By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ Hampton pleaded not guilty to the charges and immediately recanted his confession, just as hed done in previous cases. It was August 9, 1976, on a deserted road in Sumter County, SC, when a trucker happened upon the scene of the murders. They are asking local law enforcement to. Lucas Vega is obsessed with the death of Candace Swa. Newspaper reports indicate that she was born with two holes in her heart, but she would turn out to be stronger than she knew. Dennis Beauford, the deputy who had responded to the incident and originally stayed the night, continued to feel a personal connection to the story. Nor am I criticizing those who have helped so far or those concerned citizens who have contributed to the present approximately $3000 reward. 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.