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Missing South Carolina woman found 'chained like a dog' Missing South Carolina woman found 'chained like a dog'
(about 2 hours later)
Banging noises and screams from inside a metal shipping container alerted deputies searching for a woman on a 100-acre South Carolina estate. Police have found a body while searching a property in South Carolina where a missing woman was discovered "chained up like a dog".
They found her alive "chained like a dog" to the inside of the box, a local sheriff told US media. A local sheriff said the 100-acre estate was still being searched "to make sure that we don't have a serial killer on our hands."
The woman went missing in late August this year with her boyfriend, who is yet to be found.
Registered sex offender Todd Kohlhepp, 45, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the incident.Registered sex offender Todd Kohlhepp, 45, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the incident.
The woman told police that she had been fed twice a day but was "obviously traumatised" after her time in the container. The woman found went missing in late August this year with her boyfriend.
The body has not been identified, but prosecutor Barry Barnette said the woman saw her captor shoot and kill her boyfriend.
She was found on Thursday after police heard banging noises and screams from inside a metal shipping container in Woodruff, 80 miles northwest of the state capital of Columbia.
It was described by Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright as "a hellish place to be locked in hot weather. No lights, no windows, no air flow".It was described by Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright as "a hellish place to be locked in hot weather. No lights, no windows, no air flow".
Four people may be buried on the property, according to a testament given by the woman to Sheriff Wright. The woman, who was described as being "obviously traumatised," was held in the container with a chain around her neck for two months, Mr Wright told reporters.
"We're trying to make sure we don't have a serial killer on our hands," Sheriff Wright said. "It very possibly could be what we have." She told police that four people may be buried on the property's land.
Sheriff Wright added that a cadaver dog, trained to smell human decomposition, had picked up on "something, it's not clear what", while searching. "We're trying to make sure we don't have a serial killer on our hands," Mr Wright said. "It very possibly could be what we have."
Officers had been led to the 100-acre property thanks to a tip-off by a sex-crime investigator. He said the woman had worked for Mr Kohlhepp, who was a licensed real estate agent.
US broadcaster WYFF say a massive investigation is now under way. Officers had been led to the property thanks to a tip-off by a sex-crime investigator.
Guns and a large amount of ammunition were seized from the property, according to Mr Barnette.
Mr Kohlhepp, who has a previous kidnapping conviction, appeared in court on Friday in Spartanburg on a kidnapping charge.
More charges would be filed, Mr Barnette said.