Car theft warrant issued for father of missing Midlands girl, thought to be in NC, sheriff says
The search for a missing girl has extended into North Carolina days after her mother’s body was found in a Midlands home, the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
Aspen Jeter, 5, is believed to have been spotted in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. The girl is believed to be with her father, Antar Antonio Jeter, according to the release. A warrant has been issued for his arrest in the theft of the deceased woman’s car, Orangeburg Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said at a press conference Wednesday.
Law enforcement officers began searching for the child on Thanksgiving when her mother’s body was found in an Orangeburg home during a welfare check, the sheriff’s office said.
An autopsy showed that 46-year-old Crystal Jumper, who was publicly identified by the Orangeburg County Coroner’s Office Wednesday, was shot in the upper body, according to the release. The Orangeburg woman’s death is considered a homicide, the sheriff’s office said.
Jumper had not been seen since Nov. 1, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Investigating deputies learned the deceased female has a child named Aspen Jeter who was not located in the home,” the sheriff’s office said.
The search
Since discovering Jumper’s body, sheriff’s deputies along with investigators from multiple law enforcement agencies, including SLED, the FBI and US Marshals Service, have been searching for Aspen, as well as Jeter.
An Amber Alert has not been issued because Jeter is the “custodial parent” of the five-year-old, Ravenell said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
“We tried to get amber alert the second we realized the child was not at the house,” Ravenell said, but because Jeter is the custodial parent, the situation “did not meet the criteria then and still does not meet the criteria.”
On Sunday, investigators received a hit on a surveillance camera at a department store parking lot in the Fayetteville, NC, area where a male was seen with a child who matched the description of Aspen, the sheriff’s office said.
However, when law enforcement officers arrived, the vehicle was no longer there.
Contact was again made in the area on Monday by citizens concerned about a small child they had spotted with a man in a vehicle, according to the release. The vehicle then left the area.
Information about why Jeter might be in North Carolina was not available.
The father
Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said investigators are looking to speak with Jeter, a 46-year-old Columbia resident, who is believed to have been the male spotted in North Carolina.
“We’ve been looking for him in connection with the larceny of a vehicle, but we also want to talk to him as he may have information in the case,” Ravenell said in the release. “We’d like to see if he knows anything.”
The sheriff added that anyone who sees Jeter or Aspen is asked not approach Jeter.
Jeter might be driving a blue 2015 Mazda 6 taken from the victim’s Louise Drive home, according to the release.
Ravenell said that they had a warrant for Jeter for the theft of the vehicle.
The sheriff’s office described Jeter as a 5-foot-7, 190-pound man.
Jeter has been arrested multiple times for traffic violations, Orangeburg County court records show.
The background
Jeter had been staying with Aspen and her mother at the home in the 200 block of Louise Drive, according to an incident report. Jumper’s cousin, who requested the welfare check, told deputies Jeter was there “due to his lights being cut off at his residence,” according to the incident report.
The cousin also told deputies Jumper and Jeter “do not get along with each other,” the incident report said
The sheriff’s office has not said Jeter is involved in what it called murder/non-negligent manslaughter in the incident report. No arrests have been reported and there is no word on a motive for the homicide.
The sheriff’s office has urged anyone with any information on the child’s location or the dead woman to contact investigators at 803-534-3550, Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIMESC or submit an online tip.
A friend of the woman said Aspen “suffers from a disability that makes it hard for her to communicate and walk,” and “needs medical care,” WLTX previously reported.
Aspen was publicly reported missing Nov. 25, the day after her mother’s body was discovered.
On Nov. 24, Jumper’s cousin called the sheriff’s office requesting the welfare check, saying she hadn’t heard from her relative since Nov. 7, according to the incident report.
The cousin said it was not normal for her to go so long without hearing from Jumper as the two usually speak every day, according to the incident report.
When deputies responded to Jumper’s home, there was no response to knocking on the door, but they could smell an “odor associated with decomposition,” and saw insects on the inside of the windows, according to the incident report.
After entering the home deputies found Jumper’s body in a bed “in an advanced state of decomposition,” the incident report said.
When Aspen was not located in the home the search for the girl was launched.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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This story was originally published November 30, 2022 at 1:09 PM.
