Mobile Home Sales in Kershaw, SC

An investigation is underway after a body was found inside a clothing donation bin, and authorities believe it had been there for months, the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office said Monday night.

The body is believed to be that of an adult female “based on the clothing located on the body,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

The woman has not been identified, but the sheriff’s office said an autopsy scheduled for Wednesday might provide her name and additional information. That includes a cause of death, a date of death, and the original location of the death, according to the release.

The sheriff’s office warned the public that finding answers to these questions “will not be a fast process.”

The body was discovered Dec. 31 in a donation bin located near Camden West Inn at 850 U.S. 1 South in Lugoff, the sheriff’s office said. That’s about 3 miles from Lugoff-Elgin High School in an area densely packed with retail businesses, car dealerships, and restaurants.

Following the discovery, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was called to process the bin and “properly recover the body,” according to the release.

“Unfortunately, it appears the body has possibly been there for months,” Sheriff Lee Boan told the Camden Chronicle-Independent. “It was badly decomposed and mostly skeletal.”

The donation bin was removed after the body was recovered, the sheriff’s office said. In addition to the body, the bin contained a number of items that appeared to be years old, Boan said, including VHS tapes. It appeared the bin had not been checked or emptied in some time, the Chronicle-Independent reported.

In addition to the sheriff’s office and SLED, the Kershaw County Coroner’s Office is assisting with the investigation.

“We will know more facts as the investigation moves forward. It is very early in the investigation,” Boan said in the release. “We are NOT ruling out anything at this time.”

Several people responding to the sheriff’s office post on Facebook about the discovery said it could be a woman who was reported missing in June, and had not been seen by her family since March 2022. In June, the sheriff’s office in a Facebook post said Leslie Lemoine was missing.

In a Facebook post of her own, a woman identifying herself as Lemoine’s daughter said: “We do believe this could be my mother. The detective called me immediately and informed of the possibility. ... Many of the things they are telling me about what they found on the body sound like her but I can not be for sure. Please just send our family prayers.”

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - A Richland County man was arrested after being caught on camera stealing dogs from another man’s home in Kershaw County.

Tyrek Broughton says the surveillance video was taken from security cameras in his house.

The video shows a masked man grabbing one dog from a cage by its neck and stuffing it into a pillowcase. It then shows him going to another cell, taking another dog, and then leaving.

Broughton, the owner, says those dogs are worth $13,000.

Broughton says the masked thief used this shovel to break through this window and enter his home to steal his French Bulldogs.

The incident happened last month, but ever since then, Broughton says not even his 4-year-old daughter wants to come back to the home.

“My baby is petrified,” said Broughton, “Every time I see her she’s like, ‘Hey daddy, did the bandits get arrested?’”

Broughton says he came home on April 14th to find his window busted out and his home security system told all.

“At 1:30 it showed a white Dodge Ram scoping my house to see if anybody was home. They dropped Phillp Compo off on the front road. He approached the fence line of the house and he tried to go through the front door, and he saw the front door was locked,” Broughton said.

That’s when the bandit took out the window in Broughton’s room. The video shows the burglar climbing in, then entering the living room to take the pups.

Broughton says, “He took my dogs and put one of them in the pillowcase and they were fighting trying to get away and then he took the other one. As he tried to get out the door, one of my Frenchies got out of the pillowcase and then he grabbed it and shoved him back in the pillowcase.”

Philip Compo was arrested and charged for stealing the dogs, but Broughton says two accomplices who were seen in a white truck dropping Compo off and picking him up, are still at large.

“Kershaw County is not doing anything,” said Broughton.

“Well, the person, the only person that broke into his house was arrested,” said Kershaw County Sheriff Lee Boan. “I mean if we can identify who drove him to the scene or drove him from the scene or had anything to do with this, we are willing to charge them but the information we have right now is kind of iffy.”

Boan says Broughton told investigators that the alleged perpetrators confessed to him, but so far no one has come forward.

Broughton says one of the accomplices made a post on Facebook bragging about selling the dogs for $10,000, and right now he’s still searching for his missing dogs.

No other items were stolen from Broughton’s home.

Sheriff Boan says a search warrant was obtained for Compo’s house in Richland County and no dogs were found.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the dogs is urged to call the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office.

You can watch the surveillance video here. Warning, some viewers may find the footage to be disturbing.

Notice a spelling or grammar error in this article? Click or tap here to report it. Please include the article’s headline.

Stay up to date with WIS News 10. Get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Storeand Stream us on Roku, YouTube, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV.

Copyright 2023 WIS. All rights reserved.

KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - Some residents in Kershaw County tell WIS they’re “appalled” and “disrespected” by the actions of an elected official.

County Councilman Russell Brazell is on blast for listening to loud music while a former first responder addressed Emergency Medical System (EMS) issues during last week’s Kershaw County Council meeting.

On March 14, exactly 17 people signed up to voice their opinions on a $10 million recreation center slated for Woodward Park. As Chairwoman Katie Guinn announced the public comment portion of the meeting, Brazell put a white earbud in his right ear.

Brazell is an avid supporter of the Woodward Park project.

“I was not watching him, so I don’t know when he started using the earbuds or when he started playing music, but when the music got loud enough to interrupt the meeting, that’s when I noticed,” said Chairwoman Guinn.

When the 12th speaker in line was called to the podium, Brazell plugged both ears with matching headphones. The speaker was Matthew Hutchison of Cassatt, a staunch opponent of the Woodward Park project.

“I’m in a unique position to understand some of the issues that we’re facing in Kershaw County with our first responders,” said Hutchison to WIS.

Rather than a recreation park, Hutchison believes $10 million should go towards five preexisting EMS stations throughout the county. This, as well as the installation of two additional stations in the area.

Hutchison pointed out severe infrastructure issues across KC EMS Station No. 1 following our interview in Camden on Friday.

He was prepared to address his opinions without interruption during last week’s Public Comment. Instead, Chairwoman Guinn paused Hutchison while trying to get Brazell’s attention.

“Mr. Brazell, can I have your attention, please, or are you listening to something else,” said Hutchison at the podium after Guinn called for Brazell’s participation twice.

After calling on Brazell a total of three times, Guinn ordered Councilman Sammie Tucker to tap his shoulder.

“The word that came to mind was disrespectful. I felt disrespected as a man, I felt disrespected as a citizen of this county, and everybody in the room, I’m sure, felt the same way. Even the other council members, who are probably embarrassed by that behavior,” continued Hutchison to WIS.

After a pleasant phone call with Brazell, he emailed this statement to WIS which has not been altered:

“First of all, I would like to say I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you regarding this. From time to time humans make mistakes. I’m one of those humans. Without forgiveness and Grace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we would never be able to embrace moments like this. My intention with my earbud use was to assist in hearing in a crowded room. The older I get the harder it is to hear. Unfortunately, I later chose to use them to tune out a couple of individuals that consistently bring negativity to our community. I have seen negative statements about our sheriff’s child posted online as well as my own children. You know it’s ok to poke fun at a public official but I find it disgusting to make derogatory comments about children. Ultimately I made a mistake and I own that mistake. Ignoring an individual is not the answer. I apologize to the citizens of Kershaw County that I represent for doing a poor job that Tuesday night. I will do better and this county deserves the best of me.”

Brazell is not Hutchison’s district representative. The next KC council meeting is on March 28.

You can watch Hutchison’s full speech before the Kershaw County council from minutes 1:18:53 to 1:25:01 by clicking here. He’s interrupted at minute 1:23:18.

Notice a spelling or grammar error in this article? Click or tap here to report it. Please include the article's headline.

Stay up to date with WIS News 10. Get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Storeand Stream us on Roku, YouTube, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV.

Copyright 2023 WIS. All rights reserved.

The Department would like to add eight positions to keep up with the growth in the community

KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — You might see more deputies on the road in Kershaw County next year.

The Kershaw County Sheriff's Office is eyeing an expansion of its department in the 2023-2024 budget request to Kershaw County Council.

"We don't want to get to the point where we're behind, and now we're kinda stretched, stretched pretty thin now," Sheriff Lee Boan said. "So, now would be the time to grow to keep up with what we're dealing with and not get behind."

It was a call to action as Sheriff Boan presented to the council his request for the next budget cycle in which he wants to welcome eight more people to the department.

He's requesting four deputies, a drug investigator, a violent crimes investigator, an attorney, and a grant writer, bringing the department to a total of 100 people.

"This year we're hoping to play catch-up and get more personnel with the sheriff's office," he said.

The request, he said, is to keep up with growth.

"It's pretty clear our population is coming from the Columbia area. Over in Elgin we're seeing a lot more residents, and new developments building there," he said. "It's almost daily we see a new neighborhood pop in, and with that comes housing, and more of a need."

Related Articles

The sheriff also explained the reasons for his specific personnel hiring requests.

"We want four extra deputies, one per shift, to kind of expand the shift out somewhere," he said. "We asked for one extra drug investigator - we still are having a lot of overdose deaths."

He said that at one time these deaths went down but have since increased again.

"I haven't seen our final numbers but it wouldn't surprise me if we broke another record for most overdose deaths in 2022," Boan said. "So, we're asking for another drug investigator."

The estimated cost to fund eight new personnel and six vehicles in the first year, if all grants they apply for are approved, will come out to approximately $526,000.

If no grants are approved, it will come to around $656,000 a year for just the salary and not including vehicles or equipment.

The Kershaw County Council will continue its budget discussions Monday, March 27th at 1 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.

Agents set up a "controlled delivery" and then arrested Quanisha Lashay Manago when she put the package in her car.

Credit: Lancaster County Sheriff's Office

KERSHAW, S.C. — A South Carolina woman is in custody in connection with more than six pounds of cocaine that were addressed to her and delivered during a controlled undercover operation.

The Lancaster County Sheriff's Office said that agents from multiple agencies seized the delivery of more than 6.6 pounds of suspected cocaine that was destined for an address on West Richland Street in Kershaw, South Carolina.

The large shipment of drugs had been sent from outside the country to the home and addressed to 28-year-old Quanisha Lashay Manago of the same residence.

Inside the package, according to the sheriff's department, were two compressed bricks of compressed powder that later tested positive for cocaine.

Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile said that several agencies sharing information and working together helped throughout the entire process - particularly in the next step.

With the assistance of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations, county authorities managed to complete the delivery on Monday afternoon but with agents closely monitoring the process and a SWAT team nearby.

Manago, to whom the package was addressed, came out along with another woman. Manago allegedly then took possession of the package from an undercover delivery agent who was in her yard. She then allegedly put the package in the back seat of a car and got in the driver's seat as the other woman got in the passenger's side.

That's when authorities said agents made their move and took both women into custody. A search of the home also uncovered a small amount of suspected marijuana.

Manago was charged with trafficking cocaine over 400 grams and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. The other woman, who was not identified, was also not charged in the case.

Sheriff Faile said the drugs were estimated to have a worth of $180,000 at $60 a gram.

"This was a lot of Cocaine, and thanks to all who participated it will never hit the street," the sheriff said.

Meanwhile, authorities are now continuing not only the stateside portion of the investigation but also trying to determine more about where the pounds of drugs were coming from and who is responsible for sending them.