Sheriff hopes billboards solves 1999 killing

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Richland County deputies hope new billboards put up across Columbia will help them figure out who killed a woman 12 years ago.

Sheriff Leon Lott said Friday that the billboards will have Janice Gilchrist-Evans’ picture on them and ask people to call in tips on who might have killed her in March 1999.

Gilchrist-Evans’ severely burned body was found in a shed. Her family didn’t report her missing until 2001, and the body went unidentified until a DNA match was made in September.

Lott says Lamar Advertising is donating three digital billboards and three traditional billboards for the messages, which should be up by the end of the month.

Lott says his investigators won’t quit until they find the killer.