Child porn investigation leads to 'radioactive' package

While searching a car at a Bluffton tow lot Wednesday for evidence of child pornography, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office came across a briefcase marked "radioactive," according to Sheriff P.J. Tanner.

That threat was enough to cause FBI agents, a State Law Enforcement Division bomb team, Department of Health and Environmental Control agents and a Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort explosives disposal unit descend on Pro Tow Towing and Storage on Simmonsville Road.

Pro Tow's owner Preston Oates said he called the Sheriff's Office after his girlfriend walked by the vehicle and saw something unusual. Then, he said, "One thing led to another and it just snowballed."

After examining the briefcase, the SLED bomb team determined it carried a minute trace of radioactivity, "so small in nature that it did not pose an immediate threat," according to a statement from the Sheriff's Office released Thursday.

The contents of the briefcase and any radioactive materials were taken by SLED to Columbia.

Tanner said deputies will continue to work with FBI agents on the child pornography and hazardous chemical cases. Officials would not release details of the investigation.