Missing South Carolina College Student Body Found, Suspect In Custody

The 21-year-old University of South Carolina student that went missing after mistaking the wrong car for her Uber, has been found dead and identified as Samantha Josephson. Police have arrested Nathaniel Rowland on charges of murder and kidnapping in connection with Josephson’s death, and is being held in a Columbia, SC jail.

Columbia Police Chief W.H. “Skip” Holbrook said in a news conference, “What we know now is that she had, in fact, summoned an Uber ride and was waiting for that Uber ride to come”, citing surveillance footage. “We believe that she simply mistakenly got into this particular car thinking it was an Uber ride.”

Josephson requested an Uber around 2 a.m. Friday after being separated from her roommates during a night out in Columbia, South Carolina. Her roommates began to worry when they never heard back from her all morning and called police around 1:30 p.m. the same afternoon. Columbia police began investigating Josephson’s disappearance, while hunters discovered a body a few hours later, about 40 feet from a dirt road in a wooded area in Clarendon County. The body was identified as Josephson’s.

While investigating, police obtained surveillance footage that showed Josephson getting into a black Chevy Impala, so the search began for vehicles fitting the description. Nathaniel Rowland was spotted by police in a matching vehicle and when asked to stop, he fled on foot but was caught. When police searched the vehicle, blood was found in the passenger side and trunk that matched Josephson’s, in addition to her cell phone being found in the passenger compartment. 

Investigators also found liquid bleach, germicidal wipes and window cleaner in the vehicle. According to CNN, the child safety locks in the Impala were activated as well, making any attempt to exit the vehicle from the rear extremely difficult. 

So far, it has not yet been disclosed how Josephson died and there is not much information on Rowland, however authorities say he used to live in Clarendon County and knows the area where the body was found.

Josephson’s father, Seymour Josephson, confirmed his daughter’s death via Facebook, posting a photo of himself and his daughter with the caption reading, “It is with tremendous sadness and of a broken heart that I post this! I will miss and love my baby girl for the rest of life. Samantha is no longer with us but she will not be for gotten (sic). It is extremely hard to write this and post it but I love her with all my heart. I could continue to write about her but it kills me. I sit here and cry while looking at the picture and write this.”