2 girls, 1 from Clarendon, may have faked kidnapping

By ROBERT BAKER
Item Staff Writer
bbaker@theitem.com

Two teenage girls that authorities believed were kidnapped Saturday may face felony charges for creating a hoax, the State Law Enforcement Division announced Tuesday.

A 15-year-old from Clarendon County and a 16-year-old from Williamsburg County will most likely face blackmail and conspiracy charges, according to SLED Capt. Roger Heaton.

The girls were first reported missing Saturday night after a football game at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg.

"We received a call right after midnight that the family members had received a text that the children were being held against their will," said Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett, who said his was one of many law enforcement agencies that investigated the alleged kidnapping. "We were told that a ransom of $10,000 had been requested and that they could be picked up at 3:30 a.m. (Sunday) in Paxville."

The message, Garrett said, promised the girls would be returned alive.

"Shortly after receiving that call from Orangeburg authorities, we posted people at every road going into Paxville," Garrett said. "We stayed there until 5 a.m., but we didn't have contact with anyone. There was no sign of the children."

He said officers with the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office later found the girls when an Orangeburg church called to say they had been there asking for food.

"The only thing we pursued was in reference to the text," Garrett said. "That's the only involvement we had."

He said that although authorities suspected the disappearance could be a hoax, his officers had to treat the matter seriously.

"We can't look at it that way," he said. "We had to do everything we can to find missing kids."

SLED officials said the girls were being held at the state Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia.