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SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. (BFMG) – Authorities are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest after two Charleston-area women were found dead in a rural part of Sumter County last week.
Deputies with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said they were called to a property on Richbow Road near Rembert and Horatio around 1:17 p.m. on Aug. 8 after the landowner discovered two bodies in a wooded clearing.
The victims were identified as Kristen N. Grissom, 38, of North Charleston, and Christine Marie McAbee, 35, of Walterboro. Officials are investigating both deaths as homicides.
At a press conference Tuesday, Sumter County Coroner Robbie Baker said McAbee died from a gunshot wound. Autopsy results for Grissom had not yet been completed. Baker estimated the women had been in the clearing for more than 24 hours before they were found.
Sheriff Anthony Dennis said investigators believe the women were killed elsewhere and their bodies left in the wooded area. The sheriff added the women knew each other, and the incident is believed to be isolated with no known threat to the public.
“This is something you don’t normally experience, not only over days but years, to find two bodies like that in a wooded area in your county,” Dennis said. “We will bring those to justice who committed this heinous crime.”
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is assisting in the investigation. Authorities said they are pursuing several leads but have not made any arrests.
Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC, visit the Midlands CrimeStoppers website, or submit a tip through the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office website.
