SOUTH CAROLINA — (Scroll down for video) — After hearing a woman’s screams inside a large metal container, investigators sawed and pried open the bin, rescuing the woman who had been chained inside for about two months by a serial killer, according to new videos released by prosecutors.
The man responsible for the horrific crime is Todd Christopher Kohlhepp, a serial killer who is convicted of murdering seven people in South Carolina between 2003 and 2016.
On August 31, 2016, Kala Brown, 30, and her boyfriend Charles David Carver, 32, went missing after they went to do cleaning at Kohlhepp’s residence. Carver was later found dead of multiple gunshots on Kohlhepp’s property.
On November 3, Brown was found by authorities, chained to the wall inside a metal storage container on Kohlhepp’s property. Investigators had tracked her down after tracing Brown and Carver’s last known cellphone signals, after which they heard banging noises coming from inside the container. A search of Kohlhepp’s property recovered Carver’s vehicle, which was found in a ravine covered in brush.
According to Brown, she witnessed Carver being shot. According to Kohlhepp’s mother, Kohlhepp said Carver was killed for having a “really smart mouth”, which Kohlhepp did not like. Kohlhepp also said he kept Brown captive because she did not do anything wrong and that he did not want to hurt her.
During her captivity, Brown was fed once a day. She was intimidated into not escaping after being shown the graves of Kohlhepp’s other victims.
Kala Brown Tells Her Story Of The Day She Was Allegedly Kidnapped
Two bodies were discovered on Kohlhepp’s property following his arrest, on November 6–7. They were later identified as husband and wife Johnny Joe Coxie, 29, and Meagan Leigh McCraw-Coxie, 26, residents of Spartanburg who were reported missing on December 22, 2015. They were allegedly hired by Kohlhepp to work on his property.
Meagan McCraw-Coxie had been killed by a gunshot wound to the head on December 25 or 26, while Johnny Coxie had been killed a week earlier by a gunshot wound to the torso. According to the county coroner, they were identified through their extensive tattoos.
Kohlhepp was arrested shortly after Brown’s discovery.
