A man has been arrested over the murder and kidnap of a student who mistakenly got into his car thinking it was her Uber after her blood and cell phone were found in his vehicle, police say.
Samantha Josephson, 21, went missing in Columbia, South Carolina early on Friday morning. She was found dead by turkey hunters later that day after her body was dumped in a rural spot in nearby Claredon County, Mailonline reports.
Hours later Nathaniel David Rowland, 24, was arrested after being pulled over by officers driving the same car she had been last seen in.
He had been stopped by Columbia police at 3 a.m. Saturday two blocks from the Five Points area from where Samantha had gone missing. Police say Rowland tried to flee the scene on foot but was apprehended.
Samantha’s blood and her cell phone were then found the black Chevy Impala, as well as bleach and cleaning products, according to police.
They said there was a child safety seat in the back of the car and the child safety locks were enabled meaning she would have not been able to escape.
Security footage appears to show Samantha getting into the black Chevy Impala at around 2am on Friday, when she was leaving after a night out with a group of friends in the Five Points area.
She left the bar Bird Dog alone and was spotted getting into the car that she and her friends believed was an Uber that she had ordered, a witness told the Daily Gamecock student newspaper.
When Samantha’s actual Uber driver arrived moments later, the driver cancelled the ride when she didn’t show up for the pick-up, witnesses said.
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