The Kershaw County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) has found two missing teenage girls safe in Camden.
Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews reported early Monday afternoon deputies found the two girls -- Caroline Lynn Spigner and Savannah Joy Wilson, both 15 -- at a West DeKalb Street, Camden, motel after the KCSO received a tip the girls might be there. Matthews said Caroline and Savannah saw deputies approaching and fled to a nearby apartment complex where the deputies apprehended them.
Matthews said the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice is now involved in the case and the S.C. Department of Social Services may join the investigation as well to determined why the two girls wanted to get away from home.
Original Story:
Two missing teenage Camden girls may still be in Kershaw County, according to Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Steve Knafelc.
Knafelc identified the two girls as Caroline Lynne Spigner and Savannah Joy Wilson, both 15 and both of Camden. Caroline’s mother reported her as a runaway on Aug.3, while Savannah’s mother reported her as missing on Aug. 5.
Caroline left her home around 6 p.m. Aug.3, telling her mother she was going to a movie at the Village at Sandhills in northeast Columbia, and has not returned home since, Knafelc said. He said Caroline left the home a previous time a few days earlier, but returned, reportedly making the comment “You better be lucky I came back home. She was last seen wearing blue jean shorts and a mint-colored shirt. When Knafelc contacted the media about the missing girls, he said Caroline was possibly in the northeast Columbia or Elgin areas.
The cases are linked as Savannah told her mother she was going to spend the night with Caroline on Aug. 1, which she did. Knafelc indicated the last time her mother spoke to Savannah was on Aug. 1, but said her daughter claimed she could not speak to her because she didn’t have any minutes left on her phone. Savannah also reportedly made the comment she had spoken to an “older male” from Florida.
Sunday, Knafelc said deputies know the girls spent at least part of Thursday and Friday in a trailer in a trailer park just up the road from KCSO headquarters on S.C. 34 in Lugoff.
“We checked it out and there was nothing there,” Knafelc said. “We spoke with the person at the trailer and while he confirmed they were there, he said he didn’t know they were runaways.”
He also said a deputy told him witnesses claimed they saw Caroline and Savannah at or near Camden High School on Saturday, but the KCSO has yet to confirm this was the case.
“As a precaution, we are treating them as more than just runaways,” Knafelc said. “I firmly believe they are still in Kershaw County.”
Knafelc also pointed out while some pictures of Savannah show her with dark hair, she now has blonde hair.
No vehicle description is available in connection with either girl.
Anyone with information on Caroline and Savannah’s whereabouts can call the KCSO at (803) 425-1512.
