Body of missing Richland County teen girl found, sheriff says. Suspect sought
The search for a missing teenager ended when her body was discovered early Thursday morning, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.
Now, two other teenagers are facing kidnapping and, probably, murder charges, the sheriff said. One has been arrested, and the community is being asked to help find the other.
Sanaa (pronounced sa-ni-ya) Amenhotep, 15, was found in woods near Interstate 20, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said.
“I told her parents we would bring her home. Unfortunately it wasn’t the way we hoped and prayed to bring her,” Lott said at a news conference.
Amenhotep was a student at Richland Northeast High, Richland 2 spokeswoman Libby Roof said Thursday.
“When a tragedy like this occurs, it impacts not only the Cavalier family but also the entire Richland Two family. Our collective hearts are heavy with sympathy,” Richland Northeast Principal Mark Sims said in a statement to parents and employees. “On behalf of all of the students and employees at Richland Northeast High, I extend our deepest and heartfelt sympathy to Sanaa’s family. Sanaa will be missed by her friends and teachers and will always be part of the Cavalier family.”
Lott said telling Sanaa’s parents their daughter is dead was devastating. The sheriff said he hoped the Columbia community would rally around them and the rest of Sanaa’s family, and provide them with support.
But the sheriff also asked the community to help law enforcement find one of the people he said is responsible for the teenager’s death.
Treveon Jamar Nelson, 18, is wanted on a kidnapping charge in Richland County, Lott said. More charges are possible, but they would be filed by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, which is now leading the homicide investigation because Sanaa’s body was found in that county, according to Lott.
No more arrests have been made, but some persons of interest have been interviewed, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday afternoon.
“He is part and responsible for the death of this 15-year-old,” Lott said of Nelson. “He is still out in this community and we’re asking everybody to put just as much effort into finding him as the community put effort into finding our missing 15-year-old. ... He needs to be arrested.”
Another male, who Lott called a juvenile, was arrested Wednesday and has been charged with kidnapping and is being held at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, according to the sheriff.
There is gang-related activity connected to the case, according to Lott. Further information on those connections was not made available.
Richland 2 has no record of either Nelson or the other person charged with kidnapping, of attending school in the district, Roof said.
Sanaa was reported missing on April 5 by her mother, Lott said.
According to the sheriff’s department, Sanaa probably left her northeast Columbia home voluntarily with another teen girl she knew and the two males. During the course of that night, Lott said, the situation turned into a kidnapping, and that’s when she was “murdered.”
Amenhotep’s father, Sharif, had been leading a campaign on social media, organizing rallies, fundraisers, search parties and a caravan ride through Columbia, to search for his daughter, according to his Facebook posts.
Information on how the teen’s body was discovered was not made available. Sanaa was found in a wooded area off Rish Drive, according to the sheriff’s department. That’s in Leesville, near the junction of I-20 and Fairview Road/U.S. 178.
The coroner’s office said a preliminary cause of death has been determined, but that information is not being made public until an autopsy is performed Friday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
“I can’t imagine what her family is going through,” Fisher said. “It was a very difficult scene for our office, and we stayed most of the night processing and taking care of the family and taking care of Sanaa.”
Anyone who has seen Nelson, or has information on where he might be, is asked to call 911, or CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.
Nelson, a Cayce resident, was out on $2,000 bond following a March 24 arrest when he was charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol, Lexington County court records show. That count, and a third-degree domestic violence charge from a March 23 arrest when he was released on a $5,000 bond, are still pending, according to court records.
“It is with great sadness that another young person has tragically lost their life,” Lott said. “Hug your kids and continue to lift the family in prayer.”
During the news conference, Lott said Sanaa’s death reminded him of a similar investigation in 2012, when Gabrielle “Gabbiee” Swainson was kidnapped and murdered.
Gabbiee, a high school sophomore, was abducted from left her mother’s house near Village at Sandhill mall one night before she was murdered and buried in a Kershaw County wooded area. Freddie Grant is serving a 30-year prison sentence without parole for that crime, The State previously reported.
“In the back of our mind, we just had that feeling that you get when you’re working a case like this,” Lott said of the parallels. “It brought back memories of 9 years ago, when Gabbiee had been kidnapped and murdered.”
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 10:50 AM.
