WOODRUFF, S.C. — The body of a man named Charles Carver has been found in a shallow grave the day after a missing woman was found chained up a container on a sprawling property in Woodruff, South Carolina.
Carver died from multiple gun shot wounds, the coroner said.
The more than 100-acre land is owned by Todd Kohlhepp, who is a registered sex offender.
Kohlhepp is charged with four murders as well as kidnapping.
Investigators said it's possible he may have killed seven people.
Channel 9 reporter Greg Suskin was in Spartanburg County Friday during the search and discovery of the body.
Neighbors who live across the street from the search area have been able to sit on their front porches and watch police search the property.
Chopper 9 flew over the scene, where dozens of police vehicles could be seen near the large grass field.
Click play below to watch raw Chopper 9 video:
Neighbors told Suskin that they saw Kohlhepp there all the time. They thought he was just working the land.
"He just comes every evening, works over there, cleaning up, cutting trees,” Johnny Ravan said.
Ravan spoke to Kohlhepp several times. Then on Thursday, as dozens of police cars blocked his driveway, he learned that a missing Anderson woman had been held there, a prisoner in chains, in a metal box.
“I feel sorry for the woman. It's shocking and unsettling to know that we are right here in our home, and across the street this woman's been over there for two months,” Ravan said.
Ravan was also disturbed that he couldn't do anything to help her all that time.
By midday Friday Channel 9 learned that investigators found a body there, too. It's not known yet if it’s the woman's boyfriend, who was also missing. It's been reported that their car was found on the property.
The woman told investigators she saw Kohlhepp shoot and kill her boyfriend, a prosecutor said.
"It’s just really unbelievable,” Angie Rhodes said.
For Rhodes, there's a sigh of relief. A friend set her up on a date with Kohlhepp not long ago. She had met him and thought about a date but turned him down.
“What made you say no?” Suskin asked.
"It was just an instinct. I guess God was watching over me,” Rhodes said.
Suskin went by Kohlhepp's home, in the town of Moore. A Spartanburg sheriff's deputy was stationed out front with his patrol cruiser running.
In Woodruff, search teams called in a backhoe and were using all-terrain vehicles and riding horses to get around the wooded terrain.
The investigation there could last for days.
One neighbor told Suskin that when Kohlhepp bought the property two years ago and put up a fence one year ago, they thought he was going to put farm animals out there. Now, they don't know what to think.
Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:
- SC woman 'chained up like a dog' inside container for 2 months
- Mother killed, daughter seriously injured in Huntersville wreck
- Troopers identify 18-year-old woman killed in York Co. motorcycle crash
- Man killed after exchanging gunfire with officers in Salisbury, police say
- Obama to push early voting during Charlotte campaign stop
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
