South Carolina, Gabrielle Swainson 15

[meme]

Deputies Search for Gabrielle Swainson, Missing 15-Year-Old

10:22 PM, Aug 20, 2012

Richland County, SC (WLTX) - Richland County deputies are searching for a missing 15-year-old.

Officers say Gabrielle Swainson disappeared between 3 a.m. and 7:30 am. on August 18th from her home. The girl's mother said when she returned home from work at 7:30 AM Saturday morning her daughter was missing.

Sheriff Leon Lott says they have no signs of foul play, but says the information our investigators have complied about her and the situation are not traditional temperaments of a runaway.

Gabrielle is a black female, 5' 2" tall, with black hair. She was last seen wearing pink and black pajamas.

Anyone with information on where she may be should call 9-1-1.

www.wltx.com/news/article/198347/2/Deputies-Search-for-Missing-15-Year-Old-

[meme]

5 Days Missing: Search for Gabrielle Swainson Moves to Broad River Road

Groups hopeful of finding Gabrielle Swainson left the area where she lives and moved to the other side of Richland County.

August 22, 2012

For the third day in a row, groups of friendsand family have canvassed areas looking for the 15-year-old who went missing early Saturday morning.

Gabrielle Swainson was last seen in Northeast Columbia, but the search party today moved to Broad River Road in western Richland County.

No explanation was given for the move.

These groups have largely been organized online using Twitter and Facebook, and both social media sites are key players in this investigation.

The "Help us find Gabbiee" Facebook group reported that authorities asked them to shut down earlier Wednesday. The Twitter hashtags #FindGabby, #FindGabs and #FindGabbiee are trending.

A spokesman for the Richland County Sheriff's Office said investigators were closely monitoring online communication.

That includes a Facebook user who allegedly sent messages to Swainson's friends saying he knew where she was.

Photos from the Facebook group show a user under the name "Chriss Dewitt" saying he knew where Swainson was. Officials didn't confirm or deny the validity of this post, just saying that they were following up on all leads.

If you have information on the whereabouts of Swainson, contact authorities immediately. There is still no sign of foul play, although Swainson was allegedly not the type to runaway.

springvalley.patch.com/articles/5-days-missing-search-for-gabrielle-swainson-moves-to-broad-river-road

[meme]

Search for missing cheerleader intensifies

August 23, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The aunt of missing Ridge View High School cheerleader Gabrielle Swainson said Wednesday her disappearance is impossible to understand.

“She’s just a wonderful child, an A-student, she plays the guitar, she’s on a jazz-tap dancing team that does statewide competitions,” said Tara Swainson, 41, who said it’s completely out of character for her niece to go missing.

“I just really hope that we find her and find her safe and alive. I can’t imagine she would willingly be gone.”

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott has activated his major crimes unit – a team of veteran investigators, replacing the missing persons unit that initially handled the case. He said Wednesday he is highly concerned about the 15-year-old girl’s vanishing with no trace.

“We’ve put our best people on this,” Lott said in an interview. “We’re going to work this like it’s something bad, in hopes that it turns out to be something good.”

Gabrielle hasn’t been seen since her mother, Elvia Swainson, a single mom, left her in their two-story house at 221 Tamara Way alone on Saturday and went to work early, around 3 a.m., Richland County deputies said. Gabrielle is her only child.

When the mother came back shortly after 7 a.m. Saturday, she heard her daughter’s alarm going off in her second-floor bedroom. But her daughter wasn’t in the house.

Tara Swainson said that was the first time that Elvia Swainson had left her daughter alone in the house that early in the morning. “She and Gabbiee stayed up really late, watching movies, riding out a thunderstorm that night.” Gabrielle was sleeping in her second-story bedroom when her mother left, Tara Swainson said.

“The one time she decides to go to the office in the wee hours of the morning, this tragic thing happens,” Tara Swainson said. The mother went into the office to catch up on some back work she was worried about, she said.

Robert Platts, 49, a neighbor who lives across the street from the Swainsons, said Elvia Swainson came to his house about 7:15 a.m. Saturday to ask if he’d seen her daughter.

“She (Elvia Swainson) was upset,” said Platts, who with his wife, Tammy, has known the Swainsons for years. Mother and daughter were always together, he said. Those times in the afternoon when Gabrielle was home alone, she sometimes had girlfriends over but that was it.

“She (Gabrielle) is just a really nice young girl,” Platts said. “Just quiet, kept to herself. We’ve been knowing her ever since she and her mother moved in about eight years ago. We’ve watched her grow up. This has shocked me.”

The family’s house, located in the 100-house North Crossing neighborhood, is within a mile of the Village at Sandhill mall. The neighborhood also backs up to the sprawling, mostly undeveloped Clemson Institute for Economic and Community Development campus off Clemson Road.

Sheriff’s investigators have combed the house for clues, canvassed the neighborhood, checked out nearby empty homes, talked to neighbors and Gabrielle’s friends and conducted phone searches and social media searches, Lott said.

Gabrielle’s purse and identification were still in the house. The only thing missing is her cellphone. There were no signs the Swainson house was broken into.

“Everything about this case concerns me,” Lott said.

Lott declined to talk about the cellphone that Swainson was believed to have with her. Modern cellphones contain technology that enables law enforcement to locate the devices.

Lott did say, “There is nothing to indicate that she voluntarily left home.”

The teen, who turned 15 in June, had just made Ridge View High’s junior-varsity cheerleading team, and she was excited to start her sophomore year of classes today, her mother told The State newspaper earlier this week.

Gabrielle has never run away, her mother said, and she didn’t think she had any reason to Saturday.

Theresa Riley, spokeswoman for the Richland 2 school district, said Wednesday school officials were keeping “close tabs on the situation. We will have counselors on hand for any students who may need that service.”

Riley said, “It’s a very sad thing, and we are just praying she is found very soon.”

For several days, Swainson’s friends, classmates and church have handed out fliers, started Twitter alerts (#FindGabby and #FindGabs) and set up a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ findGabbiee.

Elvia Swainson has hired a private investigator, Chandra Cleveland-Jennings, who is a former member of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. Elvia Swainson could not be reached Wednesday.

Many concerned friends met Tuesday afternoon at the Sandhill branch of the Richland County Public Library and canvassed surrounding neighborhoods, posting and handing out fliers bearing the missing teen’s photo and description.

Gabrielle is described as a black female, about 5-feet-2-inches-tall with black hair. She was last seen wearing pink and black pajamas.

The fact that school starts today underscores how serious Gabrielle’s disappearance is, said Tara Swainson, who was house-sitting the Tamara Way house Wednesday evening.

“Gabby’s a consistently A and B student. She loves to learn. Skipping school is not her thing,” said Tara Swainson.

“And her mom and her were thick as thieves – I just don’t see her doing this to her mom.”

Said Platts, the neighbor, “I’d hate to think somebody just come in and took her.”

www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/08/23/3472842/search-for-missing-cheerleader.html

[meme]

CBS News Gabrielle Swainson, 15-year-old South Carolina cheerleader, missing since Saturday

August 23, 2012

Police in South Carolina are searching for 15-year-old Gabrielle Swainson who went missing Saturday.

RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. - Police in South Carolina are searching for 15-year-old cheerleader Gabrielle Swainson who went missing Saturday.

Officers say Gabrielle vanished from her home in Richland County between 3 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. on August 18, CBS affiliate WLTX reports. The teenager's mother says when she returned home from work Saturday morning, her daughter was gone.

Sheriff Leon Lott says there are no signs of foul play, but the details of the case do not match that of a runaway.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Gabrielle's mother, Elvia Swainson, says the only thing missing from her home is the 15-year-old's cell phone, which now goes straight to voicemail. The girl's purse, clothes and phone charger were all left behind.

The teen had recently joined Ridge View High School's junior-varsity cheerleading team, and was about to start her sophomore year, the Charlotte Observer reports.

Gabrielle is a black female, 5' 2" tall, with black hair. She was last seen wearing pink and black pajamas.

m.cbsnews.com/fullstory.rbml?catid=57498435&feed_id=999&videofeed=999

[meme]

Missing Cheerleader Left Purse, Wallet in Bedroom

August 26, 2012

The FBI has joined the search for a South Carolina cheerleader who vanished without a trace from her bedroom.

Gabrielle Swainson, 15, disappeared between 3:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. last Saturday, during the time her mother was at work, police said.

When mother Elvia Swainson returned home Saturday morning, Gabrielle's bed was empty.

"I grabbed my phone and started calling her number. The number rang a couple of times then it stopped," Swainson said.

Several more attempts to reach her daughter went straight to voicemail, she said.

Although there were no signs of foul play, investigators believe the teen's disappearance was not voluntary.

"Her purse was still there with her charger for her phone in it and all the ingredients of her purse like her wallet and her credit card, everything is still there," said Chandra Cleveland-Jennings, a private investigator hired by Swainson.

Cleveland-Jennings said there has been no activity on the teen's phone since her disappearance. Police have not said whether they have been able to locate a signal.

Gabrielle missed the first day of her sophomore year of high school on Thursday at Ridge View High School, where she had just made the junior varsity cheerleading squad.

"I don't know what has happened. I don't know how it happened and this is really a nightmare. It really is," Elvia Swainson said. "It's the worst situation a parent could be in."

abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=17078903

[meme]

Gabrielle Swainson: Freddie Grant charged with kidnapping missing SC teen, sheriff hopeful she's alive

August 28, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Investigators charged Freddie Grant with kidnapping in the disappearance of 15-year-old Gabrielle "Gabbiee" Swainson after her blood was found on duct tape near his home, authorities said Tuesday.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said 52-year-old Grant was a family acquaintance and did yard work for the Swainson family. The sheriff was holding out hope that Gabbiee will be found alive, and more than 100 officers are combing through a junkyard across from the suspect's home in Elgin on Tuesday looking for the missing teen.

"I haven't given up hope of finding her and bringing her home. That's what we're operating under, that she can be found," Lott said. "He's only charged with kidnapping." Grant was uncooperative when investigators first asked him if he knew where Gabbiee was, and hadn't been any more helpful since he was charged with kidnapping on Monday. Gabbiee was last seen by her mother around 4 a.m. on Aug. 18 asleep in her bed.

Her mother said Gabbiee was gone when she returned home from work several hours later. All the teen's clothes, her purse and her cellphone charger were still in the home, authorities said.

Investigators began questioning the family and anyone who knew the girl. Grant was an obvious target because he was a convicted felon and deputies became even more suspicious when he refused to cooperate, Lott said.

Bullets were found in Grant's home, leading to a federal weapons charge. Additional searches uncovered his DNA and Gabbiee's DNA on duct tape with blood on it found near his house, the sheriff said. Grant is being held without bail at the Lexington County jail.

Lott said investigators are checking to see whether Grant is involved in the disappearance of a 28-year-old woman last year.

Investigators said Adriana Laster, who lived with Grant in Elgin, has been missing for nearly a year. Laster disappeared in September 2011, but wasn't reported missing until March of this year by her grandmother in Homestead, Fla., Elgin Police Chief Harold Brown said.

Brown said. Grant and Laster lived together and had a troubled relationship. Brown said his officers were called to their home several times, culminating in an April 2011 charge of criminal domestic violence against Grant. Police pressed forward with the misdemeanor even though Laster asked them to drop the case. Grant was convicted and paid a fine, Brown said.

Aug. 27, 2012 - Gabrielle Swainson: FBI agents involved, $6,000 reward offered for information regarding missing SC teen

Aug. 23, 1012 - Gabrielle Swainson, 15-year-old South Carolina cheerleader, missing since Saturday.

m.cbsnews.com/fullstory.rbml?catid=57501866&feed_id=999&videofeed=999

[meme]

Gabrielle Swainson Suspect, Freddie Grant, Named Person Of Interest In Other Unsolved Cases

Posted: 09/02/2012 8:49 am
Updated: 09/02/2012 8:49 am

Freddie Grant, the ex-convict facing charges in the disappearance of 15-year-old Gabrielle Swainson,is also a suspect in at least two other unsolved cases in South Carolina, according to police.

Elgin Police Chief Harold Brown told The Huffington Post that Grant is a person of interest in the disappearance of Adrianna Diana Laster, a 28-year-old woman who disappeared in September 2011. Laster was reported missing March 17, 2012, by her grandmother in Florida.

"He was the last person to see her," Brown said."It's been almost a year. The week after Labor Day is as far as we have been able to track back so far."

Brown said that Laster lived with Grant for a period of time prior to her disappearance. Officers were called to the couple’s home several times and Grant was once convicted of criminal domestic violence against Laster.

The Kershaw County Sheriff's Office has also named Grant a person of interest in the murder of Daniel Lee Wood, 36, who was shot and killed in October 2011. The murder weapon was found at the scene, as well as an unknown quantity of crack cocaine. A spokesperson for the sheriff's department declined to elaborate on the connection between Grant and Wood.

Grant was arrested Sunday and was later charged with kidnapping in connection with the disappearance of Swainson. The high school cheerleader was last seen in her Columbia, S.C., home at about 3:30 a.m. Aug. 18, when her mother,Elvia Swainson,left for work. The girl's mother told police her daughter was asleep in her bedroom before she left. When the teen's mother returned at about 7:15 that morning,her teen was gone.

During a Tuesday press conference, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said authorities suspect Grant entered the Swainson home on Aug. 18, forcibly took the teen and drove her to his home.

Grant works as a landscaper and had reportedly dated Elvia Swainson. He was initially investigated because he is a convicted felon, police said. The 52-year-old has prior convictions for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and aggravated assaultand kidnapping. According to Lott, Grant had participated in searches for Gabrielle Swainson.

"He handed out flyers knowing all the while he was the one responsible for taking her," said Lott. "That makes me sick to my stomach."

Swainson's aunt, Zoraida Turnipseed,said she saw Grant at search efforts but does not remember him acting out of the ordinary. "He didn't stand out, but once a family member goes missingyou become skeptical of everybody," she told HuffPost.

Cell phone records inevitably showed that Grant's mobile device was near Swainson's home around the time she disappeared. Authorities obtained a search warrant for Grant's home and allegedly discovered 12-gauge shotgun shells and .38-caliber bullets –- items his prior convictions madehim ineligible to possess.

Additional searches were conducted around the home, where investigators found a bloody piece of duct tape. Analysis of the tape revealed both Grant and Swainson's DNA, police said.

While there is a connection between Grant and Swainson's mother,Lott said authorities do not believe she has any responsibility for her daughter's disappearance. "She had no idea...," Lott said.

According to the Richland County Sheriff's Department, Grant is being "completely uncooperative" with the investigation. His attorney, Fielding Pringle, has declined to discuss the case. Earlier this week, the attorney sent a letter to authorities asking them not to contact her client.

Grant is being held without bond at the Lexington County Detention Center.

"He holds the key," Lott said. "He's the one who can stop those tears from Gabrielle's mother and stop the pain her in heart."

Authorities are asking anyone who has hired Grant to work as a landscaper or handyman to contact them.

"Those he worked for may have valuable information on Grant's behaviors, habits, tendencies or places he frequented," authorities said in a press release.

Meanwhile, local law enforcement,assisted by the FBI and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are continuing to search for Swainson.

"We are all still searching," Turnipseed toldHuffPost. "We are still handing out flyers. Every day we are out there. We are doing everything we possibly can."

The distraught aunt added, "We hope and we pray she is still alive -- maybe being held somewhere. We have a very strong faith in God and we believe all things are possible."

Gabrielle Swainsonisa black female,about5-feet-2-inches tall with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black tank top, and pink andblack pajama bottoms, with black and white Adidas brand sandals. Swainson has braces on her teeth,but authorities are not releasing the color of the braces because the color is unusual and would help them confirm a possible sighting. Richland County sheriff's deputies are asking anyone with information to call 803-576-3000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/01/gabrielle-swainson-freddie-grant_n_1847222.html

[meme]

Judge warns Sheriff Lott but won’t gag him But Lott is warned to limit comments

Circuit Court Judge DeAndrea Benjamin will not gag Sheriff Leon Lott to prevent him from making statements about the suspected kidnapper of 15-year-old Gabrielle Swainson.

But the judge cautioned Lott and all law enforcement officials in the case to limit their public statements to those “necessary to inform the public of the nature and extent of the prosecutor’s action and that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose,” according to an order issued by the judge Wednesday.

Last week, Richland County’s chief public defender argued that Lott’s comments about her client, Freddie Grant, a 52-year-old Elgin resident, were tainting a future jury and creating a media frenzy.

Circuit Court Judge DeAndrea Benjamin will not gag Sheriff Leon Lott to prevent him from making statements about the suspected kidnapper of 15-year-old Gabrielle Swainson.

But the judge cautioned Lott and all law enforcement officials in the case to limit their public statements to those “necessary to inform the public of the nature and extent of the prosecutor’s action and that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose,” according to an order issued by the judge Wednesday.

Last week, Richland County’s chief public defender argued that Lott’s comments about her client, Freddie Grant, a 52-year-old Elgin resident, were tainting a future jury and creating a media frenzy.

Lott had held multiple press conferences and repeatedly called Grant “a monster.”

“These statements from Sheriff Lott, your honor, are intended to heighten public condemnation,” Fielding Pringle, the defense attorney said in requesting the gag order during last week’s hearing. “They serve no purpose to further the investigation. They serve no purpose for the search. They are sensationalized. They are vitriolic. They are dramatized. We have playground name-calling.”

On Wednesday, Pringle declined comment except to say, “The judge’s order speaks for itself.”

Pringle’s request for a gag order mentioned Lott’s two appearances on Nancy Grace’s national crime show on cable TV and cites an Aug. 29 headline in The State newspaper: “‘Monster’ charged with kidnapping missing teen.”

In an interview after the judge’s ruling, Lott said he won’t retract any of his earlier statements.

“Everything I said is true, and we can prove it, and I will continue to do everything I can to find Gabbiee.”

Asked by a reporter if he would repeat the word “monster,” Lott said, “Look up ‘monster’ in the dictionary, and it describes someone who does horrible things ... someone who comes into a child’s bedroom and terrifies them and takes them. That is exactly what happened in this case, and we can prove it.”

In last week’s hearing, prosecutor Dan Goldberg, defending Lott, argued the sheriff has a right to comment on the case because it is of the utmost importance to find Swainson, a sophomore at Ridge View High School. She has been missing since Aug. 18.

“These statements are serving a legitimate law enforcement purpose – to try to find her,” Goldberg said.

He also said the sheriff had a First Amendment right to speak. “The sheriff is expressing that in colorful language,” Goldberg said.

Grant has been held since Aug. 26 in Lexington on federal weapons charges and faces a Richland County kidnapping charge, although that arrest warrant has not been served.

In making her decision, Benjamin said in her ruling that she balanced Grant’s right to a fair trial and Lott’s First Amendment right to free speech.

Public officials must be allowed to “freely express themselves on matters of public importance,” Benjamin wrote in citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Wood v. Georgia, and “finding a missing 15-year-old girl is ‘a matter of public importance.’”

In statements made last week, Lott said that Grant – who had done handyman work at Swainson’s house – had a key to the house. When the teen’s mother, who knew Grant, left the house in the middle of the night to go to her office for several hours is when Grant abducted the sleeping girl, Lott has said.

Gabrielle’s blood was found in her bed and on duct tape in Grant’s home, Lott has said.

www.thestate.com/2012/09/12/2438343/judge-warns-sheriff-lott-but.html#.UFJtCvfCuzk

[meme]

Gabrielle Swainson’s body found; Kershaw County authorities to meet with SLED to discuss search for second missing woman

Published: August 8, 2013


The top cops in Elgin and Kershaw County will both meet with State Law Enforcement Division agents on how to conduct a search for another missing woman connected to accused killer Freddie Grant.


Adrianna Laster, originally of Florida, went missing after Labor Day in 2011. The 28-year-old woman lived with Grant at his burned-out Elgin home before she disappeared without much of a trace. Grant is believed to be the last person to see her.

Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews and Elgin Police Chief Harold Brown will meet with SLED officials next week about orchestrating a search for Laster’s body in the woods where the body of Gabrielle Swainson was found.

Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews and Elgin Police Chief Harold Brown will meet with SLED officials next week about orchestrating a search for Laster’s body in the woods where the body of Gabrielle Swainson was found.

Cadaver dogs and extra manpower will most likely be requested for the search. The search is expected to start in the place where Gabrielle’s body was found, and will likely go outward from that spot.


Cadaver dogs and extra manpower will most likely be requested for the search. The search is expected to start in the place where Gabrielle’s body was found, and will likely go outward from that spot.

UPDATE: 12:27 p.m.


Paperwork was filed Friday morning to drop charges against Freddie Grant’s daughter, who was accused in June of trying to mislead investigators looking into Gabrielle Swainson’s disappearance.


Dominique Grant was charged with accessory after the fact to a felony when she was spotted near a Myrtle Beach grocery store where a truck driver found Gabrielle’s phone in June. Dominique Grant has been held on a $300,000 bond at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center for more than a month. She was released from jail Friday.

It’s believed that Dominique Grant’s release was part of a deal that led to her father revealing the location where he buried Gabrielle.


Meanwhile, Freddie Grant appeared before a magistrate judge Friday morning, where he was formally charged with murder in the teen’s death.

UPDATE 11:30 a.m.

Examiners Monday were able to confirm that the body found buried in Elgin Thursday was that of Gabrielle Swainson, according to a Richland County Sheriff’s Department release.

The girl’s identity was released as the Richland County Coroner’s Office conducts an autopsy. Exactly how Gabrielle died isn’t yet known, but that information will be released later by Richland County Coroner Gary Watts.

Read more here: www.thestate.com/2013/08/08/2908377/sheriff-calls-7-pm-press-conference.html#storylink=cpy

[meme]

Freddie Grant gets 30 years in prison for killing Gabrielle Swainson

Published: August 14, 2013 Updated 21 hours ago

COLUMBIA, SC — Circuit Court Judge Robert Hood accepted a plea agreement that will put Freddie Grant in prison for 30 years for the killing of Northeast Richland teen Gabrielle Swainson.

Hood said Wednesday in court he struggled with whether he should accept the agreement but said it was necessary to bring closure.

“I will go along with these negotiations because I need for Gabbiee’s family to have closure,” Hood said. “I need for them to know and I need our community to know we will not tolerate this type of behavior.”

Grant had nothing to say when offered a chance to speak in court.

Fifth Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson presented the case and spoke on behalf of Gabbiee’s parents.

“Her entire family loved Gabbiee,” Johnson said. “She was full of life. She was a good girl, going to do great things, until her life was taken.”

Grant agreed to the plea deal in exchange for his daughter’s release from the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, where she was being held on a charge of being an accessory after the fact to a felony. That charge was dropped the day after her father pointed out Gabrielle’s grave near railroad tracks off U.S. 1 in Elgin.

Gabrielle was 15 when she disappeared from her mother’s home in Northeast Richland in the early morning hours of Aug. 18, 2012. Her disappearance earned national attention and thousands in the Midlands followed the case by attending vigils, volunteering to search and wearing blue bracelets as a sign of hope that she would be found alive.

People followed the search for the missing girl, who was known to have good grades and for her devout religious beliefs. She played guitar and sang, often performing in church. She had been chosen for the Ridge View High School junior varsity cheerleading squad.

Grant had become a suspect within hours of her disappearance. He had been dating Gabrielle’s mother, and Richland County sheriff’s investigators quickly learned of his violent criminal history. Their suspicions were affirmed when Gabrielle’s cell phone showed her last known location to be near Grant’s Elgin home, a burned out house on a dirt lane. There, investigators found duct tape with the teen’s hair and blood on it. More duct tape was found in an abandoned junk yard near the house.

Grant refused to cooperate with the investigation even after he was arrested by the FBI agents on a federal ammunition charge. He was convicted and sentenced to 17 years in prison because he was a felon, who was banned from owning weapons and ammo.

But Richland County investigators caught a break in June when Gabrielle’s cell phone was discovered behind a Myrtle Beach Piggly Wiggly. They were able to place Dominique Grant in the area at the time the phone was discovered.

They charged Dominique Grant and then leveraged her arrest to get her father’s confession. He was flown Aug. 8 from Eastern Kentucky where he was being held in a federal prison to South Carolina where he lead investigators to the grave site.


After her father pleaded guilty, Dominque Grant released this statement thropugh her attorney, Aimee J. Zmroczek: “My heart goes out to Elvia for her loss. I could never imagine her heartache and I am devastated by the loss of her only child, Gabbiee. I am equally saddened, shocked, and hurt by my father’s actions. His actions cannot and will not be condoned.”

She asserted her innocence in any involvement with her father’s actions.

“As to my father,” she continued, “I must use Christ’s example of love and mercy to guide my steps. My love for him has not wavered and it is my responsibility as a Christian to show him mercy and compassion. He now has to pay his debt to society and my immediate goal is to allow God’s will to take precedent in my life as I move forward.”

A candlelight vigil for Gabrielle will be held at 8:15 tonight at Elgin Town Hall. Another service is planned for 6 p.m. Sunday at Right Direction Church International, 3506 Broad River Road. Ridge View High School, where Gabrielle would have been a sophomore when she was kidnapped, is planning a remembrance once students return.

www.thestate.com/2013/08/14/2919457/live-updates-freddie-grant-pleads.html