ELGIN, S.C. (AP) - A woman found hiding in a wooded yard in below-freezing temperatures told authorities she had escaped after being drugged and held captive for a week, a South Carolina sheriff said Monday.
Kershaw County Sheriff Lee Boan’s office said in a news release that a resident who spotted the woman outside called authorities Friday.
Deputies found the woman huddled in the woods in temperatures in the 20s. She led them to a home about 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) away in Elgin, where deputies found all the bedroom doors had padlocks and windows had been painted or otherwise covered.
Two other people found in the house told deputies they had been performing sex acts in exchange for drugs, the sheriff’s office said, and declined the deputies’ offers to help them.
Deputies arrested 45-year-old Demetrius Raynard McIlwain on kidnapping charges Friday. He remained jailed Monday without bond. It was not immediately known if McIlwain had an attorney to represent him.
The woman found in the woods told authorities her boyfriend owed McIlwain money and had dropped her off at the house where she was held captive. The sheriff’s news release did not identify the woman.
The sheriff’s office said McIlwain is a registered sex offender in Aiken County who was released from prison in 2018. It said he has prior convictions for assault and battery with intent to kill, criminal sexual conduct with a minor and other crimes.
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