Body found on Kohlhepp property identified as Charles Carver

Spartanburg Sheriff Chuck Wright on Saturday night said a body found in a shallow grave on a 96-acre property on Wofford Road was that of Charles Carver, who had been missing from Anderson County.

Carver was the boyfriend of the woman who was found Thursday chained in a metal cargo container on the property, which is owned by Spartanburg real estate agent Todd Kohlhepp.

Kohlhepp was arrested Thursday and charged with kidnapping after the missing 30-year-old Anderson woman was found.

Wright would not confirm a report that Kohlepp was brought to the scene Saturday afternoon.

Kohlhepp was denied bond in magistrate court Friday afternoon.

During the formal bond hearing, Seventh Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette gave a short timeline of how the kidnapped woman ended up on Kohlhepp’s property.

The woman and Carver were reported missing in Anderson County in early September. Her friend, Dan Herren, told the Associated Press on Friday that when he visited her in the hospital, she told him the couple had gone out to Kohlhepp’s property to do some work and Kohlhepp had suddenly “pulled out a gun and held them hostage.”

When she talked with law enforcement, she told them she witnessed Kohlhepp shoot Carver, Barnette said.

He said investigators believe other bodies might be buried on Kohlhepp’s property. Wright said Thursday the rescued woman had told investigators Kohlhepp told her four additional bodies were buried on the property.

Barnette said the city of Anderson Police Department contacted the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office after receiving information that the rescued woman’s phone had been pinging around the area of Kohlhepp’s property in Woodruff.

A social media and phone search showed Kohlhepp was the last person she spoke to before she went missing, Barnette said. With that information, investigators obtained a search warrant for Kohlhepp’s Wofford Road property and executed that warrant Thursday, Barnette said.

Investigators discovered a metal cargo container on the property that is next to a two-car garage with a living area above it, Barnette said. As investigators were looking around in the garage area, Barnette said they heard noises coming from the cargo container and found the woman inside with a chain around her neck and ankle.

“They had to go through several different locks to get to her,” Barnette said.

Barnette described Kohlhepp’s property as a compound. In the garage and living area, Barnette said investigators found “numerous guns everywhere” and a lot of ammunition. It appeared that Kohlhepp had been shooting targets for practice, Barnette said, and there were several shell casings on the ground.

When deputies executed another search warrant on Kohlhepp’s home in Moore, Barnette said they found more guns and ammunition.

Barnette asked the judge to deny Kohlhepp’s bond based on this information and his past criminal record. Kohlhepp was convicted in 1986 of kidnapping a girl in Arizona and served 16 years in prison. Kohlhepp was also charged with sexually assaulting the 14-year-old girl in the case, but through a plea agreement, that charge was dropped.

However, Kohlhepp was required to register a sex offender, Barnette said.

“This individual is a very, very dangerous individual,” Barnette said.

Once an autopsy is completed on the body that was found, Kohlhepp could be facing additional charges, Barnette said.

Kohlhepp will be arraigned in court on Jan. 19, Spartanburg County Magistrate Judge Danny Burns ruled Friday.

Lt. Kevin Bobo, spokesperson with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, said investigators would probably return to the scene around daybreak to continue their investigation.

This story was originally published November 5, 2016 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Body found on Kohlhepp property identified as Charles Carver."