Bodies of SC women found in wooded area investigated as homicides, coroner says
The bodies of two South Carolina women were found Friday in a wooded area, according to the Sumter County Coroner’s Office.
The remains of Charleston County residents Christine Marie McAbee, 35, and Kristen Grissom, 38, were found at about 1 p.m. in a rural area near Richbow Road, Coroner Robbie Baker said in a news release. That’s in a part of Rembert between S.C. 37 and S.C. 261, about 111 miles from Charleston County.
Grissom was a North Charleston resident and McAbee was from Walterboro.
Deputies initially responded to a report of a citizen who discovered a body, and while they were on the way learned that two bodies had been found, according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. It was the landowner who discovered the bodies in a clearing, the sheriff’s office said.
The bodies appeared to have been placed at the location, the sheriff’s office said.
No other injuries were reported.
Sheriff Anthony Dennis joined investigators as they processed the scene Friday, and initially said that the women’s deaths were “suspicious.”
On Saturday, Baker said that the deaths are being investigated as homicides.
No announcements have been made about the causes and times of death, but the coroner’s office said that autopsies are scheduled to be performed Tuesday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
“We will have to wait until we have the results of the autopsies to know more,” Dennis said Friday. “In the meantime, we cannot speculate.”
There was no word about how the women wound up in Sumter County.
Dennis said the deaths appear to be isolated and there is no known danger to the public.
No arrests have been reported, but the deaths are being investigated by the sheriff’s office and coroner’s office. Dennis also asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division assist with the investigation.
Anyone with information about the women or their deaths is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 803-436-2000, CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.
In the case of an emergency, always call 911.
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This story was originally published August 10, 2025 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Bodies of SC women found in wooded area investigated as homicides, coroner says."
