The family of Claretha Epps McLeod has wondered where she went for nearly six years.
The Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office provided a grisly answer Monday, confirming that skeletal remains found of Tearcoat Road in June matched DNA provided by McLeod’s children.
“Along with other additional evidence, we are able to give a 100 percent positive identification as Ms. Claretha,” said Maj. Kipp Coker.
McLeod was last seen Jan. 30, 2009, by her family at her Olanta home. A family member contacted the Florence County Sheriff’s Office initially, and that agency worked with Clarendon and the State Law Enforcement Division in the initial months after McLeod’s disappearance.
But the trail went cold. In the first few days after McLeod went missing, drivers in Sumter and Clarendon counties reported to authorities that a woman matching McLeod’s description had received rides from them. A family acquaintance told Florence deputies that the woman asked for a ride to Hickory Grove Baptist Church on Old Manning Road in Turbeville, and that he dropped her off about 11:30 p.m. Jan. 30.
Family reported in 2009 that McLeod had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Witnesses who gave the then-74-year-old woman a ride said she appeared to be in both good mental and physical health.
Another witness said he gave a ride to McLeod, dropping her off near the intersection of Old Manning and William McFadden roads. Sheriff Randy Garrett told The Manning Times in 2009 that blood hounds tracked McLeod to a certain spot and quit tracking.
Another witness later told deputies he gave a ride to McLeod. Ultimately, she was last seen near June Burn and Brewington roads, about 10 miles from the Tearcoat Road forest where her body an clothing was found.
In the years between her disappearance and the discovery of remains this year, family members had approached Community United Effort (CUE) Center for Missing Persons Founder Monica Caison. Founded in 1994, the group has helped more than 10,000 families with missing persons’ cases.
Volunteers from CUE returned in 2014 to scour the area about Tearcoat Road where skeletal remains were found June 8 by a hunting party. Clothes were found with the remains, and Jorga, a Dutch shepherd search dog with I&I International K-9 SAR Team was brought in. The dog found more bone matter – ribs and bones – in her first five minutes of searching.
Lt. Kathleen Street with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that the remains were initially sent to Dr. Suzanne Abel, a forensic anthropologist with the Charleston County Coroner’s Office. They were later moved to the University of Texas Center of Human Identification.
“The positive identification came back to us Dec. 17,” Coker said. “We then approached the family and met with them before releasing the information.”
Street said the Florence County Sheriff’s Office sought out assistance from the University of North Texas after working with the school on a previous case.
Clarendon County Deputy Coroner Charles Jackson was present for Monday’s announcement. He said no cause of death has been ascertained yet, but Coker said deputies consider the investigation closed. He said they do not have reason to believe McLeod’s death was the result of homicide.
He said ultimately that McLeod was found about 25 miles from her home. Family members present Monday declined to make a formal statement.
