Remains of missing Spartanburg woman found in Berkeley County

Investigators have identified a skull found behind an elementary school in Berkeley County as a Spartanburg woman who went missing two years ago.

Nicole Goodlett, 28, was reported missing in March 2014. The young mother of three was last seen in Spartanburg on Feb. 20, 2014.

Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office investigators went to Berkeley County Wednesday to assist the Sheriff's Office there and the Department of Natural Resources with the search for any other remains, said Lt. Kevin Bobo, a Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office spokesman.

He said about 30 investigators combed the area with the help of cadaver dogs.

Goodlett's skull and a small bone were found by a hunter on Nov. 27, 2015, in a wooded area about 100 yards behind Cainhoy Elementary School. The remains were positively identified as Goodlett late last month, according to a statement from Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury.

No indications of trauma were found on the skull and it appeared to have been there for "some time," Salisbury said.

"It's very much an active investigation," Bobo said.

After Goodlett's disappearance, her parents offered a $2,000 reward for tips that would lead to finding her. Authorities announced later in 2014 that Goodlett may have been a victim of foul play.

Jerald Jermaine Howard, 34, Goodlett's boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, pleaded no contest to obstruction of justice in June 2015. Authorities said at the time that when a deputy approached Howard outside his home for questioning, he crawled under a partially open garage door. He met the deputy at the front door moments later. Authorities said he was found with Goodlett's cellphone.

Howard is from Berkeley County and is still a person of interest, investigators said.

"These woods they're searching are about a mile from his mother's house," Bobo said.

John Reckenbeil, Howard's defense attorney, said Howard has maintained his innocence.

"Finding the skull and bones, that's a bad fact. It's circumstantial evidence, in his home town. That's a bad fact," Reckenbeil said. "He's said emphatically, 'John, I don't know where she is. I don't have anything to do with this."

Goodlett's family could not be reached for comment.

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Remains of missing Spartanburg woman found in Berkeley County."