A former North Carolina police chief who allegedly faked his own death has been found and arrested in Horry County, South Carolina.
Ex-Chadbourn Police Chief William Anthony Spivey was found near Loris, South Carolina, on February 24, according to the agency’s Facebook post.
Spivey was relieved of his duties due to misconduct allegations last spring. He initially faced over 70 felony charges, which included evidence mishandling, drug trafficking, and embezzling, the Horry County Police Department added in the post.
Spivey has been in custody for three days and has no attorney listed the New York Post reported.
Spivey was reported missing on February 21 after he never returned from a fishing trip on the Lumber River.
Authorities found Spivey’s abandoned boat in the river and his vehicle at the boat landing, the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office said in a released statement.
Investigators spoke to Spivey’s friends and family at the scene and “family members described the incident as a possible suicide.”
The investigators also collected handwritten letters and a .22-caliber rifle with a discharged round still inside.
“All evidence was collected by Crime Scene Investigators and processed. Investigators quickly concluded that the evidence collected did not support a suicide scenario,” the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office said.
After three days of searching and collecting video from nearby surveillance systems and conducting interviews, it was clear that the suicide scene was staged, investigators said.
Warrants for Spivey’s arrest were issued after he failed to appear in court on February 23, the release said.
Investigators eventually tracked Spivey to an apartment complex in Loris, where he was arrested.
Spivey has 40 outstanding warrants for failure to appear and each has a bond of $25,000, which totals a bond of 1 million dollars, according to the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office.
Two other individuals were also arrested as part of the “pseudocide” investigation. Debbie Bridgers Sasser and Harold Dean Sasser have both been charged with obstructing justice for allegedly assisting the staged suicide.
