Area where USC student’s body was found is being searched, officials say
A search was taking place Wednesday in the area where the body of a missing University of South Carolina student was found, according to officials.
Samantha Josephson was found dead in Clarendon County after getting into a car in the Five Points area early Friday, The State reported.
The area where the 21-year-old USC senior was discovered, including a nearby pond, was being searched, officials with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, said, according to WLTX.
DNR tweeted it was an “article” search, and K-9 units as well as members of the dive team were on hand. The search was looking for articles connected to Josephson’s killing, according to the tweet..
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office are also participating in the search of the property, DNR tweeted.
Josephson’s body was found by turkey hunters in rural Clarendon County on Friday afternoon, just over 12 hours after she was last seen getting into a car outside a Five Points bar that, police say, she mistook for an Uber, The State reported.
Nathaniel Rowland has been charged with her murder and kidnapping, according to The State.
Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said Rowland lived in Clarendon County and was familiar with the road where Samantha was found, The State reported.
When Rowland was arrested, a search of his car revealed blood in the trunk and cab, along with bleach, wet wipes and germicide, Holbrook said, according to The State. Testing found that the blood belonged to Josephson, the newspaper reported.
More than 1,000 miles away from the search, a funeral was held for Josephson at Congregation Beth Chaim in West Windsor in New Jersey, the Associated Press reported.
This story was originally published April 3, 2019 at 4:13 PM.
