Sad end to search for elderly SC woman after her vehicle was found in a ditch
A search for a missing South Carolina woman in bitterly cold temperatures has ended.
Neather Kelly was publicly reported missing by the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office Monday morning. The 94-year-old Bowman resident had not been seen since Sunday night, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Just before 11 a.m., the sheriff’s office said Kelly was found dead.
“It is with the deepest sorrow we announce we have located Miss Kelly. Unfortunately, this outcome is not what we had hoped.” Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said at about 10:55 a.m.
Kelly’s vehicle was found abandoned in a ditch in the 700 block of Magnolia Street in Bowman, according to the release. That’s about a block from Rail Street, where the sheriff’s office said that Bowman resides.
The sheriff’s office said it believes Kelly’s vehicle went into the ditch between 10:30-11:30 p.m. Sunday.
Kelly was found about half mile from her vehicle on Lara Street in Bowman, according to the sheriff’s office.
Information about how the vehicle wound up in the ditch was not available.
Before Kelly was discovered, Ravenell said there’s an urgency to the search , who went missing during a winter storm, and temperatures will drop well below freezing Monday night.
“We are extremely concerned with the weather having been as cold as it is,” Ravenell said in a release. “We need to locate her as soon as we can.”
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This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 8:20 AM.
