Woman missing since August found chained ‘like a dog’ in metal container
Her boyfriend is still missing and a suspect is in custody
Kala Victoria Brown, a South Carolina resident who disappeared in August, was found alive chained like a dog inside a metal container in a Woodruff property, the Spartanburg sheriff announced on Thursday. Her 32-year-old boyfriend Charles David Carver, who also went missing in August, is still missing but his car was found on the property.
Deputies arrested Todd Kohlhepp, a 45-year-old registered sex offender, who owned the property. Ms Brown told authorities that four separate bodies might be held on his 100-acre property. Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said that investigators are trying to make sure that they aren’t dealing with a serial killer. He also believes the suspect was friends with the victims. "I don't think this was a random act," he told reporters. The couple first went missing over the summer after they failed to show up for dinner with friends.
Authorities said that Ms Brown was locked in a 30x15 metal container for two months with a metal chain wrapped around her neck. They explained that investigators were searching the property when they heard her banging from inside the storage container. Deputies were originally alerted by reports of bear traps on the property thanks to information from a sex crime investigator. An excess of weapons and ammunition were also recovered on the property.
"He’s currently incarcerated," Sheriff Wright told reporters. "We’re trying to get all this sorted out and figure out what we’re going to charge him with. One of the charges will be kidnapping, it could be murder. It could be a number of things."
Mr Kohlhepp is listed as a sex offender stemming from a 1987 kidnapping conviction in Arizona. He’s currently being held at the Spartanburg County Detention Center and will likely face kidnapping charges.