South Carolina husband strangled wife, dumped her body in woods with help from roommates before joining search party: police
A South Carolina husband allegedly murdered his wife and dumped her body near a lake with the help of his two roommates before joining in on search parties looking for his wife who was reported missing.
Jessica Barnes, 20, was last seen on Aug. 1 at her Pendleton, SC home that she shared with her husband, Brandon Barnes and two roommates Kendall Mims and Victoria Tippett.
She was not reported missing until her mother Cecilia Varvara contacted the Pendleton Police Department on Sept. 10.
Varvara had received text messages from her daughter, but didn’t believe they were from her because of how they weren’t written, according to WYFF.
“Details surrounding the disappearance were vague and material and personnel from (the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) were required and needed for this continued investigation,” Pendleton Police Chief Robert Crosby said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Barnes’ mysterious disappearance sparked an investigation leading law enforcement agents from multiple departments to launch a search for her.
During the investigation, a “potential site” was found in the Twin Lakes area of Pickens County, just south of Clemson University, six miles from the Pendleton home.
They were led to a wooded area near the Twin Lakes Boat Ramp when a vehicle Barnes usually drove was pinged, WYFF reported.
Human remains were discovered at the site on Sept. 20, with forensic analysis identifying the body as Jessica Barnes on Oct. 1.
Detectives searched the home where the Barnes, Mims and Tippett lived and questioned the trio, but no one was viewed as a suspect, Crosby said at the time.
“There was some issues with her and her husband. They were having the typical marital disputes, argumentative, and then, she just left,” Crosby said.
Police were told that Jessica Barnes didn’t reveal where she was going to her husband and roommates.
Brandon Barnes and Tippett were seen putting up missing person flyers around Pendleton, six days after the remains were found, according to Blunt Force Media.
Brandon Barnes pleaded for his wife to return as he held the ashes of the couple’s stillborn child.
“I would tell her how much I love her and I wish I never went to work everyday and ignored her. I ignored her voice, told her she was fine when I knew she wasn’t,” Barnes told Blunt Force Media. “I was young and stupid. I was always focused on getting more money and more work.”
Barnes chillingly read a letter his wife left him that he wasn’t supposed to open until their tenth anniversary, the outlet reported.
“We have been through so much in the first year of our life together, and I am so grateful that I met you. I love you so much, baby. Thank you for sticking by my side and letting me in. It’s hard to love me, but we had a son and got married—best choice I ever made, by the way, the note read.”
Jessica Barnes talked about the struggles the couple faced in the first year of their relationship, including the stillbirth, Brandon Barnes working two jobs in “fast food,” and wanting to spend more time with him.
“You amaze me with your strength to keep moving forward after our angel passed, never giving up on our family,” she said. “You are the smartest twenty-one-year-old when it comes to investing and saving because you’re always thinking about your future self, and I admire that. My love for you is so deep. Even when I am mad, I still love you, and I will love you more every day.”
An autopsy, conducted by the Pickens County Coroner’s Office ruled Barnes died of asphyxiation by strangulation, according to Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore.
The death was ruled a homicide.
When law enforcement was notified about the positive ID on the remains earlier this week, Brandon Barnes, Mims and Tippett were brought in for questioning before they were arrested and charged.
Brandon Barnes was charged with murder and later admitted to the disturbing killing.
He allegedly used his arms to strangle his wife with “malice aforethought,” police said in the probable cause for his arrest warrant viewed by The Post.
Mims and Tippett were both charged with Accessory after the fact, Obstruction of Justice and Misprision of a Felony.
The three were denied bail.