Author: Katie Mettler / Source: Washington Post
It was just past 2 a.m. Friday when Samantha Josephson decided to part ways with her friends and leave the Bird Dog bar alone. Then, according to police, the 21-year-old college senior called an Uber.
Josephson had been out Thursday night in downtown Columbia’s Five Points district, a popular nightlife hub just down the street from the University of South Carolina campus.
Surveillance footage shows her walking outside, waiting on the sidewalk and holding her phone.At 2:09 a.m., a black Chevrolet Impala pulled into the parking space beside her. As pedestrians streamed by, Josephson climbed inside.
But the Impala was not her Uber, police would late determine, and the man driving it never took her home.
Twelve hours later, Josephson’s friends reported her missing.
Two hours after that, authorities had found her dead.
“Our hearts are broken,” said Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook at a weekend news conference, shortly after meeting with Josephson’s family, who had traveled to town from New Jersey. “They’re broken. There is nothing tougher than to stand before a family and explain how a loved one was murdered.”
Police have arrested 24-year-old Nathaniel D. Rowland on charges of murder and kidnapping, Holbrook said.
Cont’d: Special Victims Unit investigators believe that shortly after 2:00 a.m., Josephson was seen getting into this newer model Chevy Impala along Harden Street. Family & friends have been trying to locate her ever since. Again, call @MidlandsCrime 1-888-CRIME-SC w/your tips. pic.twitter.com/3211Wjx6PK
— Columbia Police Dept (@ColumbiaPDSC)
Josephson’s abduction and the mystery surrounding her death has shocked the campus community she called home for four years and immediately spurred her friends, strangers and university officials to advocate for vigilance when using ride-sharing services.
In a message, the university encouraged students to use campus shuttles and to “exercise best practices when using services like Uber and Lyft.” Match the car description and license plate with the information in the app, the message said, and always ask the driver the name of the person they are supposed to be picking up before climbing inside.
During his news conference, the police chief said authorities believe Josephson got into the Impala “mistakenly” because she thought it was her Uber ride.
The next morning, Josephson’s co-workers at the Liberty Tap Room in Columbia grew concerned when she didn’t show up for her breakfast shift. Rich Vascovich, operating partner at the restaurant, told a newspaper that Josephson’s friends called him to ask whether she had shown up for work. They had not…
The post She thought she had gotten into her Uber, police say. Hours later, hunters found her body. appeared first on FeedBox.