Women’s bodies were found in the woods and SC man charged with murder, cops say
A month after the bodies of two South Carolina women were found in a wooded area of the Midlands a man was charged with murder and other crimes, according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
Tiamo Henry Mitchell Drakeford, a 29-year-old Camden resident, was also charged with possession of a weapon during a violent crime and desecration of human remains, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Drakeford was arrested Friday, according to the release.
The charges are connected to the deaths of 35-year-old Christine Marie McAbee and 38-year-old Kristen Grissom, the sheriff’s office said. The Charleston County women were found Aug. 8 in a rural area near Richbow Road, according to Sumter County Coroner Robbie Baker. That’s in a part of Rembert between S.C. 37 and S.C. 261, about 111 miles from Charleston County.
Grissom was a North Charleston resident and McAbee was from Walterboro. The autopsy report for McAbee showed she died of a gun shot wound, while the medical examiner is awaiting more tests before releasing Grissom’s cause of death.
Deputies initially responded to a report of a citizen who discovered a body, and while they were on the way learned that two bodies had been found, according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. It was the landowner who discovered the bodies in a clearing, the sheriff’s office said.
The bodies appeared to have been placed at the location, the sheriff’s office said.
No other injuries were reported.
Information about how investigators connected Drakeford to the bodies was not available.
Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis said that Drakeford’s arrest doesn’t conclude the investigation as more arrests are expected. He also said the deaths are believed to be a targeted crime and not a random act of violence.
Anyone with information about the women or their deaths is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 803-436-2000, CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.
In the case of an emergency, always call 911.
Dennis thanked members of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for assisting with the investigation, as well as the efforts of members of the North Charleston Police Department, Camden Police Department, Richland County Sheriffs Department, ATF and the Kershaw County Sheriffs Office.
“Every person from each of these agencies have worked tirelessly to assist my office in solving this case,” Dennis said in the release. “I am truly humbled and thankful for everyone’s tireless dedication.”
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