Coroner: Body Found at Site Where Deputies Found Missing Woman Chained

WOODRUFF, SC (FOX Carolina) – The Spartanburg County coroner said Friday that a body was found at a large property in Woodruff where on Thursday the sheriff said deputies found an Anderson woman being held captive and alive in a container.

Sheriff Chuck Wright said Kala Brown was found “chained up like a dog” and had been kept there for two months. Wright said she was being held in a metal storage container that is approximately 30 feet by 15 feet on a large tract of property along Wofford Road. Investigators discovered her after hearing a banging sound inside the container.

Brown was reportedly being fed by her captor while chained up by her neck.

“It’s all by God’s grace we found that little girl alive,” Wright said. She is currently being treated at an undisclosed medical facility.

To see a SLED sex offender map for where you live click here.

Brown, 30, and boyfriend Charles Carver were reported missing after disappearing in late August. Carver is still missing but Wright said a vehicle believed to belong to Carver was found on the property where Brown has being held.

Brown’s mother, Bobbie Newsom, said her daughter disappeared on social media on Aug. 28 and there has been no activity on her cell phone since Aug. 31. Newsom later found Brown’s apartment unlocked and the dog inside without food and water. The dog’s crate was also missing.

The Anderson Police Department subsequently launched an investigation into the couple’s disappearance.

A few weeks later, mysterious posts on Facebook began to surface on the Facebook account belonging to Carver. The posts claimed Carver and Brown were alive and well but the missing woman’s family was not convinced.

READ: Court documents highlight troubled past of man accused of holding Anderson woman captive

Kohlhepp was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the kidnapping. He was released in 2001 and eventually returned to the Upstate.

According to court records, Kohlhepp was working as a realtor at Todd Kohlhepp & Associates, LLC in Spartanburg County.

An agent working at TKA Real Estate said she knew of Kohlhepp’s sex offender status but said the arrest seemed “totally out of character.”

“I’m really hoping that there’s a mistake or something,” she said. “It doesn’t sound like him.”

Neighbors said Kohlhepp lived at a home in Moore but would regularly visit the property. One neighbor said he would drop by on evenings around 6 p.m. and stay for about an hour. They said they have never seen anything like what investigators uncovered Thursday.

Neighbors who live next to Moore at his home on Windsong Way were horrified to learn of the new accusations against the real estate agent.

Sheriff Chuck Wright said Kohlhepp will face a kidnapping charge and could face more, including murder, depending on the outcome of the investigation. Brown reportedly told investigators that as many as four bodies could be on the property in Woodruff.

“We’re trying to make sure that we don’t have a serial killer on our hands,” he said. “It very possibly could be what we have.”

A backhoe was being used on the 100-acre property to search for evidence and Wright said some had been uncovered, but the investigation is in its infancy.

Wright asked the public to pray for the victim and investigators, especially in light of the disturbing circumstances of the case.

“Just ask God to take that scene out of their mind,” he said. “And yeah, this is exactly what you read in books.”

Wright and a team of investigators returned to the crime scene Friday morning to continue searching for evidence.

Wright spoke to the media before the day’s operation began. He revealed Kohlhepp was on site when deputies arrived and found the suspect on Thursday. He said Kohlhepp immediately requested a lawyer and was taken into custody without incident.

Wright also revealed that Carver’s vehicle had been hidden on the property. Search crews found it in a ravine on the property.

Excavators and additional heavy machinery were brought in to aid in the search. Wright said they had searched about half of the massive property on Thursday. Cadaver dogs were brought in and did identify areas on the property where bodies might be present. Wright said crews would be examining those areas on Friday.

Deputies said Friday they are *NOT* seeking volunteers to assist in the search of the property. Lt. Kevin Bobo with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office said many people have offered to help and had to be turned away.

“While we sincerely appreciate their offer, we can’t jeopardize the integrity of a crime scene by allowing civilians on the property,” Bobo stated.

Just after 11 a.m. the Spartanburg County coroner confirmed he was at the scene to investigate something that searchers had discovered. Just after 12:30 Coroner Rusty Clevenger confirmed a body had been found at the site.

Todd Kohlhepp will appear in court to be arraigned on the kidnapping charge Friday at 2 p.m. FOX Carolina will have a camera in the courtroom.

Anderson Police Chief Jim Stewart told the Associated Press that the joint investigation with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office began when investigators learned through phone records that the Woodruff property was the last place a phone connected to the case was “pinged.”

Newsom said Thursday that her daughter was extremely emotional but was in good physical condition.

“I have got so many emotions going on,” Newsom said. “I’m ecstatic, scared because you know, I’m mad because of what she went through. I’m still scared because of what she is going to have to go through to get her normalcy in her life… It’s going to be a long road, but we got this.”

Carver’s family members are clinging to hope that he is still alive.

“If shes alive, hes alive, maybe not here, but somewhere,” Carver’s brother, Nathan Shiflet said. “Hope for the best and believe in God, that’s all you can do. He’ll bring us through.”

The property owner is listed as Todd Kohlhepp, according to Spartanburg County tax records. The sheriff confirmed during a press conference that Kohlhepp was arrested Thursday morning.

A spokesperson for the Carver family said the couple met Kohlhepp online and the three were casual friends.

Kohlhepp is a convicted sex offender listed on the SLED registry. He was convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 15 in Arizona in 1987.

Investigative records from Arizona show Kohlhepp was accused of kidnapping a 14-year-old girl at gunpoint in 1986, forcing her to go back to his father’s home in Tempe, AZ, tied her hands, duct taped her mouth, and raped the girl. The reports state he threatened to kill the girl and her family if she told anyone about the assault. He was charged with kidnapping and sexual assault and agreed to pleas guilty to the kidnapping charge in 1987. As part of the plea deal, the sexual assault charge was dismissed but Kohlhepp would still have to register as a sex offender.

Court documents pertaining to the crime paint a picture of a highly troubled but intelligent young man.

To see a SLED sex offender map for where you live click here.