3 days ago
Frail elderly woman vanishes after horror crash, sparking huge search...then shows up at her home TWO MONTHS later
An elderly South Carolina woman vanished after a horrifying crash, sparking a huge search - only for her to turn up again two months later with a harrowing story.
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.
