The eerie moment student gets into random car instead of Uber hours before death
CCTV has captured the fateful moment a 21-year-old woman hopped into a car she had mistaken for an Uber ride, just hours before her body was found on the side of a dirt road.
Samantha Josephson was last seen outside Five Points bar in Columbia, South Carolina early Friday morning (local time).
Friends of the university student raised the alarm about 12 hours later when they had not seen or heard from her.
“We believe that she simply, mistakenly got into this particular car thinking that it was an Uber ride,” Columbia Police Chief William Holbrook said.
“She opened the door, got into it and departed with the suspect driving.”
The search came to an end when two hunters found her body in a wooded area along a dirt road in a rural part of a nearby county, a few hours after her friends called police.
“Our hearts are broken, there is nothing tougher than to stand before a family and explain how a loved one was murdered,” he said. “It was gut-wrenching.”
Police received a number of leads and were able to determine through video that the vehicle Josephson got into was a black Chevrolet Impala.
Early on Saturday morning, an officer spotted a vehicle matching the description of the car two blocks from the tavern and initiated a traffic stop, Holbrook said.
Nathaniel Rowland, 24, was taken into custody after a short foot chase. Police later found blood and her mobile phone along with several cleaning items in his car. Blood was also found in the car’s trunk, Holbrook said.
Uber Technologies Inc launched a public awareness campaign in July 2017 regarding Uber scams and how riders can avoid getting into the wrong car, suggesting that they check the app to make sure that the car matches the one that they ordered.
If the information doesn’t match up, do not get into the car, the company wrote on a blog post.
Father’s heartbreaking tribute
Her father, Seymour Josephson, delivered a devastating tribute to his “baby girl”, saying their lives will never be the same.
“It is with tremendous sadness and of a broken heart that I post this! I will miss and love my baby girl for the rest of [my] life,” he wrote.
“Samantha is no longer with us but she will not be forgotten. It is extremely hard to write this and post it but I love her with all my heart.
“I could continue to write about her but it kills me. I sit here and cry while looking at the picture and write this.”
With Reuters
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