Frail elderly woman vanishes after horror crash, sparking huge search...then shows up at her home TWO MONTHS later
Susan Rhodes, 65 of North Augusta, vanished after a car crash on June 11, but she turned up nearly eight weeks later with a mysterious story to explain her disappearance.
On the day of the crash, Joshua Lawson told police that he saw an erratic driver in a Chevrolet Malibu.
The car veered into a ditch before doubling back and sideswiping a Toyota SUV and then went off the road again, Lawson said according to The Augusta Press.
Witnesses of the crash saw her car end up in a ditch before Lawson and Carl Walther both helped the driver out of the Malibu.
They described her as an elderly white female with an arm in a sling who appeared dazed and disoriented before she walked away from the crash and disappeared.
Officers who responded to the scene of the crash also found an open Bud Light can on the floor of the vehicle.
A mass search for Rhodes ensued involving helicopters, K-9's and 'multiple teams of officers,' The North Augusta Department of Public Safety said, as fears for her well-being grew.
Rhodes' roommate told authorities that she had complained of stroke-like symptoms on the day of the crash.
The roommate managed to get in touch with Rhodes over the phone, where she sounded confused before hanging up, the outlet reported.
Then on Tuesday, Rhodes was found sitting on the couch at a home in Edgefield County by the homeowner who called the police.
Responding officers later found Rhodes hiding in the bathroom where she told them that she had left the crash and was swept away by a creek.
'While speaking with her I observed her voice to be very low and not able to talk in a normal voice,' the officer said in a report, Fox 8 reported.
'I asked Susan what happened and she stated she does remember being in a wreck and then she left and walked into the woods. She said she was in a creek and it turned into a river.'
'She said the river was going so fast she lost her pants and shoes,' the officer continued.
Rhodes furthered that she had been picked up by an elderly couple after making her way back to a roadway.
Rhodes' story, officers said, 'made very little sense' and there was no evidence to corroborate the account as The North Augusta Department of Public Safety has obtained an arrest warrant
The couple, Rhodes told officers, took her to their home and fed her bread and water before she got into the black truck of a man who drove her home.
She claimed she had no idea who anyone that had helped her was and believed herself to have suffered from a stroke with little memory of what happened.
But her mysterious story only furthered suspicion as authorities believe Rhodes fabricated the story to evade prosecution for the hit-and-run accident.
Her story, officers said, 'made very little sense' and there was no evidence to corroborate the account, The Augusta Press reported.
Rhodes was taken to hospital shortly after she reappeared, where she remains pending a medical evaluation.
The North Augusta Department of Public Safety obtained an arrest warrant for her on charges of reckless driving, open container of beer, and hit-and-run attended vehicle with property damage.
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Daily Mail
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- Daily Mail
I heard Ghislaine tell inmate she had dirt on Trump: Sex trafficker's ex-cellmate gives extraordinary glimpse into Maxwell's life behind bars... and reveals why her hygiene caused complaints
The first time Kathryn Comolli laid eyes on Ghislaine Maxwell was when the convicted sex trafficker was about to enter the isolation unit at Tallahassee prison in the autumn of 2022. 'She was just standing there in an orange jumpsuit and orange flip flops, with handcuffs behind her back and a guard on both sides. She was looking down at the ground, tense and angry. She had just been strip-searched, which involves squatting naked and coughing because they don't want any contraband [concealed on the person],' says Comolli, who for more than three months slept a few feet away from Maxwell at the notorious Florida jail. 'I heard some female inmates shouting: 'Here comes Maxwell. Here comes that big money b**ch.' I thought to myself: 'Oh my God, there she is. What is she doing here in this hell-hole?' But Maxwell stayed cool, calm and collected. That was the way she was. Her golden rule seemed to be that she would keep herself to herself.' They first saw each other in the isolation unit shortly after Comolli arrived at Tallahassee. Maxwell, 63, had already been at the prison for a few months – but had to spend a night in the unit as punishment for talking to the media without permission from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). 'It was the only interview she ever did and she got in trouble for it,' says Comolli, referring to Maxwell's 2023 appearance on Talk TV 's Jeremy Kyle Live in which the disgraced British socialite said she wished she had 'never met' the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Comolli spent 15 days in isolation after being transferred from Federal Prison Camp Marianna in Florida, where she had been found with a mobile phone. After completing the time, she was taken by guards to B South Dormitory and assigned a bunk near Maxwell's. Both women slept on their respective bottom bunks. B South was a horseshoe-shaped room made up of sleeping cubes, divided by shoulder-height concrete walls. There were 140 inmates in the dormitory. Each section had two bunk beds with lockers in the middle but 'no privacy whatsoever'. Comolli, 44, was serving six years for 'conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine'. After her arrest in September 2020, she served two years of her sentence at Tallahassee and was released last August. 'While most of us would watch TV, cook noodles, listen to the radio or play cards, Maxwell just laid on her bed reading. 'It was hot and sweaty and any time it rained, we'd have to take maxi pads [sanitary towels] and put them in the cracks in the ceiling so we didn't get wet,' says Comolli. 'There were just four toilets for 140 of us and they were always getting blocked. We'd put a garbage bag over them and just wait until somebody got round to fixing them – anywhere from a week to a month.' Comolli says it was common knowledge among inmates that Maxwell didn't aim to serve her full 20-year sentence and instead had hoped to get a pardon from then US President Joe Biden in exchange for information about Donald Trump in the lead-up to the 2024 election. 'I heard her tell another inmate that she had dirt on Trump and that it was going to get her a pardon from Biden. I guess Biden's camp just didn't want to go down that route.' There is still talk of a pardon. Last week, Maxwell was moved to Camp Bryan, a minimum security prison in Texas, where there are no perimeter walls or wire fences. Her move came after she met and was questioned by Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche. 'I believe Maxwell made a deal with the devil to get that transfer out of Tallahassee,' says Comolli. Life in the Tallahassee prison is markedly different from that of Camp Bryan. 'Breakfast would be a scoop of bran flakes and a carton of milk, which was usually frozen. Sometimes you'd get half a frozen pancake,' says Comolli. 'Lunch could be two pieces of bread and a slice of salami or some potatoes, and dinner could be mouldy lettuce, expired tomatoes and lots of beans and rice.' With such unappealing food on offer, Comolli says inmates would often cook 'prison soup' in the dormitory by pouring hot water into an empty crisp packet or lunch box and adding noodles, crushed corn chips, pickles and cheese. But Maxwell never did this. 'She had particular habits,' says Comolli. 'For example, she didn't let anyone wash her clothes and she cleaned her own cubicle. 'She claimed to be allergic to the dye in the prison blanket so she was given special white hospital blankets. You could tell which was Maxwell's bed because of the white blankets. She was the only one in the whole prison who had white blankets. 'Maxwell didn't ask for anything from other inmates because she worked out that if you did, there was usually a favour attached to it. There's a price tag on everything in prison.' Comolli says Maxwell did befriend one fellow prisoner, a doctor, who would follow her everywhere and joined Maxwell for meals. 'My own first real conversation with her was when I asked to borrow her prized New York Times Sunday edition. 'I said: 'Hey, can I check out your New York Times?' and she replied: 'Yes but everybody else always wants to read it so you'll have to wait – but it won't be a problem.' Comolli says she never saw Maxwell being disrespected by other inmates and that the former socialite – who was educated at Marlborough College in Wiltshire and Oxford University – was able to converse in four languages. 'There were fights and verbal and physical altercations happened all the time, but she never got involved.' Maxwell received 'ungodly amounts of mail with stacks of daily letters. But under prison regulations, all letters – including envelopes – are photocopied before distribution so that inmates can't use drug-laced paper for smoking or consumption'. Comolli also saw Maxwell passing the time by working as a clerk at the law library in the prison's education building. She worked there three to five days a week. 'She was smart and knew the law well. She helped people with legal stuff and won respect from inmates for this. But she would not let anyone take advantage of her. Of Maxwell's perceived persona, Comolli says: 'The evil pimp? I never saw that. I just saw a person trying to get through each day like the rest of us. She was active in her Jewish faith and took that seriously. She had a Torah and participated in the Sabbath. 'She was a participant in all Jewish activities.' Comolli joined Maxwell's twice-weekly yoga and pilates classes for several months. Around a dozen inmates would head to a corner of the yard with prison mats that Maxwell had secured for them. 'She was in phenomenal shape, running up to five miles every day in the yard,' says Comolli. 'She could outrun pretty much anybody. Whenever she would be walking back from the track and someone would holler out: 'Hey Maxwell, come here!' she would ignore them. She was good at ignoring people. Then sometimes she would be in a playful mood and she'd grab a basketball and start dribbling around the court and shooting hoops. She is very athletic.' But, even after Maxwell had been exercising, Comolli says she never saw her take a shower like other inmates and instead 'would just go straight to her bunk'. 'I'm assuming she didn't want to put herself in a vulnerable position. I never saw her alone in the bathroom. She was on her guard 24/7. 'One day, she got her hair cut and took her hair with her rather than sweeping it up. I guessed she didn't want anything of hers that could possibly be sold or exploited.' Last month, Maxwell's brother Ian claimed that his sister feared for her safety in Tallahassee with 'serious staff shortages and more dangerous higher risk-category prisoners now being admitted to the prison'. But Comolli says there were no serious issues between Maxwell and other inmates, besides some name-calling. 'Some girls would call her the 'p*ssy peddler' behind her back. And they got mad when paparazzi helicopters flew over the compound and everyone would have to lock down. People would just scream out obscenities but no one ever got in her face about anything. 'The thing that bothered inmates the most was her hygiene – not washing her bedding properly and for some reason she never wore socks. She would run for miles and then put her sweaty trainers under the bed. That was the only complaint anyone really had.' Conversely, the only time Comolli heard Maxwell complain was when it came to the actions of the prison guards. 'I asked my bunkee one time: 'Why do the guards hate her so much and why do they tiptoe around her?' And she said that Maxwell would file grievances if the guards were not doing their job correctly. 'It was as if she was policing the police. She gave them a lot of grief. She knew her rights and knew the handbook of the BOP. She stayed on top of them and the guards didn't like that. 'She kept filling out the forms and, by the end, the guards knew not to mess with her.' Comolli says one privilege Maxwell was afforded was daily access to a meeting room with a long table and a private phone line that is not recorded, in order to call her attorney. 'She was in there anywhere from an hour to two hours at a time. I'm assuming she was calling London because you can't make international calls from the payphone.' During Comolli's time at Tallahassee, Maxwell was moved to D Dorm, known among inmates as the 'honour dorm' because you were in a cubicle by yourself instead of sharing with three other women. Comolli says a friend, who is still at Tallahassee, told her that Maxwell's move last week has sparked anger among sex offenders, as federal guidelines would ordinarily bar an inmate serving 20 years for sex trafficking from a minimum security prison. 'I spoke to my bunkee two days ago and she said the sex offenders are about to start a riot. They feel that Maxwell has been given special treatment. 'My friend said that any time the news comes on and Maxwell's on the screen, they start booing and throwing things at the TV. 'Tallahassee definitely has a situation on its hands. I think they thought they were going to get rid of the headache by getting rid of Maxwell, but really they have created a bigger headache.' Comolli grew up in a stable family in the state of Georgia. She attended a Catholic school and enjoyed playing football and horse-riding. Her life began to spiral out of control when her then fiance tried to kill himself – and she started self-medicating with prescription drugs. She moved to Florida and was drawn into its opioid epidemic. After returning to Georgia, she was briefly incarcerated when police found drugs in her car. Following her release, she was contacted by an inmate on Facebook who asked her to courier methamphetamine. For this, she was arrested in September 2020 and sentenced to six years in prison in March 2022. Today, she works at a hotel in Georgia and says she has turned her life around. She has also started to campaign for changes in the judicial system, based around 'greater public understanding, dignity, fairness and reform', she says. She remembers her last conversation with Maxwell. 'It was in the law library. I wanted to file a Freedom of Information application to see my federal file and she gave me some advice. I wouldn't say I got close to her during my time at Tallahassee – but that was Maxwell's strategy. She refused to get close to anyone.'
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Elderly woman vanishes in car crash - then turns up months later with wild story
Susan Rhodes, 65, was found hiding in the family bathroom after going missing for eight weeks following a car crash, and she had quite a story to explain her absence A pensioner who went missing after being involved in a road accident has turned up two months later with a mysterious story. Susan Rhodes, of North Augusta, South Carolina, vanished after the road smash on June 11 as a search was launched. The 65-year-old turned up almost eight weeks later with a wild claim which she said was behind her disappearance. Witness Joshua Lawson told police that he saw an "erratic" driver at the wheel of a Chevrolet Malibu before the car veered into a ditch. It suddenly reversed out, and hit a Toyota before again swerving off the road. It comes after man called 999 for 'his own protection' - then ended up jailed himself. She was helped out of her car before she suddenly left the scene and disappeared. A hunt then begun to locate her, but she couldn't be tracked down. Mrs Rhodes hasn't been seen for weeks, leaving her family concerned but this week she returned home. According to police, the man told officers she had been swept away by a fast-moving creek - and that she lost her clothes and shoes following the fall. She also police authorities she stayed alive after strangers fed her bread and water. She claimed she was eventually taken back home by an unknown man in a black truck. Police confirmed she unexpectedly showed up at her home after returning from a doctor's appointment. "While speaking with her I observed her voice to be very low and not able to talk in a normal voice,' the officer said in a report," police told. Fox 8"I asked Susan what happened and she stated she does remember being in a wreck and then she left and walked into the woods. "She said she was in a creek and it turned into a river. She said the river was going so fast she lost her pants and shoes." The force say they found the woman hiding in the bathroom. They stated her arm was in a sling who she appeared dazed and disoriented. It comes after a desperate search was launched to find a mum and her baby after they seemingly vanished into thin air. Whisper Owen, 36, and her 8-month-old daughter Sandra McCarty were seen last on July 15, according to California's Fresno County Sheriff's Office. The pair were last seen departing Fresno to return to their home in Sacramento almost two weeks ago. Owen's mum Vickie Torres tearfully told CNN: "I'm desperate to find my daughter and her baby. It's like she vanished into thin air." The pair left Fresno when they visited family around 5pm on July 15, the sheriff's office said. A traffic camera last captured their vehicle, a silver 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer at about 8pm in Atwater, some 66 miles north of Fresno. But neither has been since since with officers working to determine what happened to them. The Fresno Police Department, which is leading the investigation, told CNN they believe Owen and Sandra are not in the Fresno area. There is nothing that suggests foul play is involved in their disappearance, CNN was told. The family was not aware she was missing for three days due to a miscommunication. Owen had been in Fresno for a routine check up for the baby, her mother said. She visited her mum's house where she changed and fed the baby before the 8:30am appointment. Afterward, she visited her brother's house. Richard Owen said he last saw his sister at about 2:45pm on July 15. When she did not return, her partner thought she stayed behind to help her mum clean a house she had bought, her brother said. Her partner did not realise anything unusual had happened until the Saturday when the two would typically spend the weekend together. Owens suffers from high blood pressure and that it had been noticeably bad since she gave birth.
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Prosecutors may appeal to Supreme Court on 1979 missing child Etan Patz case
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