Body of missing Midlands woman found, her boyfriend charged with murder, authorities say
The body of a woman reported missing in May from Richland County was found after her boyfriend gave investigators the location, the Richland County Sheriff said Friday.
The body of Alisa Wood, 38, was found about 9 a.m. on July 19, near Little Mountain, Coroner Naida Rutherford said in a news release Friday morning. Matthew Drennan, 26, was arrested on July 8 and has been charged with murder, said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.
Wood was missing since May 9. She was reported missing on May 12, according to Lott.
The Richland sheriff’s department obtained the location of Wood’s body following plea negotiations with Drennan and his attorney. “Sometimes you have to make a deal with the devil to bring closure to the family,” said Lott.
Lott said Drennan had agreed to plead to murder, and would serve “a significant number of years.”
The negotiations with Drennan led to a police search of a wooded area in Newberry County, where they discovered Wood’s remains in a shallow grave. Her identity was confirmed by dental records.
Rutherford said Wood’s cause of death is still being investigated. More information will be released at the permission of Wood’s family.
Following an investigation, Lott said that his team had developed enough probable cause to charge Drennan despite not being able to locate Wood’s body.
When asked about a motive, Lott said it was “probably a domestic situation.” According to Lott, law enforcement’s suspicion had quickly focused on Drennan, who was likely the last person to have seen Wood, when parts of his story didn’t add up. “We suspected [Drennan] almost from the very beginning,” Lott said.
At the press conference, Lott also announced that a man had been arrested in the death of Deddrick D. Pogue, who was shot on July 18 in an InTown Suites hotel room at 8310 Two Notch Road. Darius Foster was arrested Thursday in North Carolina and charged with murder, Lott said.
The killing was the result of a “drug deal turned into a robbery,” Lott said.
Gun violence is on the rise in the Midlands. In 2021, the sheriff’s department investigated 32 murders, all of them shootings. In comparison, there were 22 murders in Richland County in 2020.
This year, Richland County has already seen a number of high profile shootings, including one at the Columbiana Centre mall in April that injured 15 people.
Anyone with information about either case is asked to call 911, or CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.
This is a developing story. Check back for more details.
This story was originally published July 22, 2022 at 12:13 PM.
