Photo: Sean Rayford / Getty Images
The body of a man from 28 who disappeared years after “getting into a car with his girlfriend” was found in a shallow grave, while she was detained.
The police considered the victim’s girlfriend a “main suspect” while they search for another person who may be related to the murder.
“We have a murder,” Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright told WYFF. “This is no longer just a missing person.”
South Carolina officials said that identified the remains of Devantae Griffin after the body was discovered on Tuesday.
Authorities ruled the death a homicide upon finding the body.
“He didn’t deserve this,” Devantae Griffin’s mother, Felicia Griffin, told WYFF.
“He wouldn’t hurt anyone. He would give you the shirt that he is wearing. I wouldn’t hurt anyone, and for someone to do this to him, it just makes me mad.”
Jessica Strachan, Griffin’s on-and-off girlfriend, was identified as a person of interest and taken into custody after Griffin was last seen “getting in the car” with Strachan .
Strachan had previously been arrested for giving false information to the police after Griffin’s disappearance.
Officials also identified Tarus Dorail Crook, aged 29, of Spartanburg, as a person of interest in the death of Devantae Griffin.
“I don’t think this was a fluke,” Wright said. “I think that, after this murder, there was some collaboration with another person and that’s where they found him, in a shallow grave.”
“They just treated it like it was nothing,” Felicia Griffin said. “As if it were just garbage.”
Devantae Griffin, from 28 years old, was reported missing on 30 March.
The premium of Griffin, Consana Ferguson, said he was last seen with Strachan shortly after midnight on 29 March.
Ferguson said that “when he didn’t answer the phone Tuesday morning, I knew something was wrong”.
He called Devantae’s brother and asked who he was with, and the brother reportedly said “Jessica picked him up,” according to a video interview with WYFF.
Investigators said they spoke with Strachan the day after Griffin was officially reported missing, on 30 in March.
The sheriff’s office said they finally found out about that Strachan gave them false information after this conversation, and later became a person of interest.
Investigators said they asked him to come back for another interview, but left for Florida without notifying the authorities.
They obtained a search warrant and entered his house that day.
The next day, the sheriff’s office obtained a warrant for her arrest for obstruction of justice and she was reportedly arrested in Miami, Florida.
The family told the outlet that the couple has a volatile history.
Griffin’s aunt, Beverly Griffin, claimed the family has heard Strachan threaten Devantae before in what she describes as a “toxic relationship.” . Authorities say it’s unclear what relationship Devantae Griffin had to Crook, but they believe the two knew each other well.
Read more Alabama Murder Suspect and Female Officer Disappear En route to Court
Woman discovers that her husband is cheating on her with the babysitter when she sees a photo at Disney World
California Hispanic accused of baby kidnapping was “obsessed ” with the boy after meeting his grandmother at church