From vanishings to killings, these cold cases span over 50 years and still haunt SC
Cold cases haunt families, investigators and communities. Here are five unsolved crimes that have left a mark on South Carolina.
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Dail Dinwiddie
Dail Dinwiddie’s disappearance is synonymous with cold cases in Columbia. Her case may be the most talked-about in all of South Carolina. She hasn’t been seen since Sept. 24, 1992.
Dinwiddie, then 23, had attended a U2 concert at Williams-Brice Stadium with friends and gone to Five Points. She got separated from her friends while at a bar, and they left, thinking she would get a ride or call her family. She told the bouncer bye and walked toward Harden and Greene streets. She hasn’t been seen since.
Investigators have checked out more than 1,000 tips but none have solved her disappearance. On the most recent anniversary of her disappearance, rumors spread about a man being arrested in the case. Police said the rumors weren’t true.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Columbia Police Department at 803-545-3525 or Midlandscrimestoppers.com at 888-274-6372
Brittanee Drexel
Brittanee Drexel was last seen leaving the Blue Water Resort in Myrtle Beach on April 25, 2009. Her case brought national attention and a federal investigation.
The 17-year-old from Rochester, New York, had come to Myrtle Beach with friends on a spring break trip without her parents’ permission. She was abducted the day after she arrived, investigators said. Her cellphone gave a last signal near the small seaside village of McClellanville.
An inmate told investigators Drexel was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, trafficked, killed and dumped in an alligator pit near McClellanville, according to an FBI agent. In 2016, the FBI pursued unrelated charges against a man who agents said knew about Drexel’s abduction and likely death. But no one has been charged with her death.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Myrtle Beach Police Department at 843-918-1382 or the CUE Center for Missing Persons’ 24-hour tip line at 910-232-1687
Jessica Gutierrez
On June 6, 1986, Debra Gutierrez awoke to a parent’s nightmare. Her 4-year-old daughter, Jessica, was missing from her bed.
An intruder entered her Lexington County home in the dead of night and abducted “Jessie” from her bed. She was never seen again.
After investigating for decades and reviewing multiple leads — including an alleged confession by one suspect — police have not charged anyone. This year, on the 35th anniversary of Jessie’s abduction, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department put out a video with the child’s mother asking for tips and information.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Midlandscrimestoppers.com at 888-274-6372
Pamela Mae Buckley and James Paul Freund
In January, Sumter County investigators identified Pamela Mae Buckley and James Paul Freund as victims of a shooting that happened nearly 45 years ago.
On Aug. 9, 1976, a trucker found two bodies off Old St. John Church Road in Lynchburg, South Carolina. Both victims were shot in the back of the head and weren’t able to be identified.
About 2013, a Clemson resident became interested in the case and began working with investigators. In 2019, he suggested DNA from the two unknown victims be sent to the DNA Doe Project. In January 2021, the testing revealed that Buckley and Freund were the victims.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office at 803-436-2000 or Midlandscrimestoppers.com at 888-274-6372
Elizabeth and John Calvert
The wealthy, middle-aged couple lived part time in Hilton Head. They disappeared on March 3, 2008, after confronting an accountant about embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from them.
The accountant, Dennis Gerwing, died by suicide about a week later. In a note, he admitted to stealing money and wrote “It happened in SPC,” which authorities believed referred to the killing of the Calverts and the initials of the offices where Gerwing last saw the couple. But Gerwing wrote nothing of where the Calverts bodies were left. They were declared dead in 2009.
Other evidence implicated Gerwing in the couple’s death, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, which is still asking for any tips or information about the Calverts.
Anyone with information can contact the sheriff’s office at 843-524-2777 or submit a tip online.
Other cold case investigations
Richland County investigators and the family of Shelton Sanders are asking for any information 20 years after he disappeared. In Hampton County, the 2015 death of teenager Stephen Smith is being actively investigation again after the killing of two members of a prominent family in June. In November, The State wrote about Dale Fetner’s death on Thanksgiving of 2000 in Greenville County.
This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 10:20 AM with the headline "From vanishings to killings, these cold cases span over 50 years and still haunt SC."