US student mistook murderer's car for Uber: police
A U.S. college student was murdered after entering a car she had assumed was her Uber ride, according to Columbia, South Carolina police. Samantha Josephson, a student at the University of South Carolina, had gone out with friends to a popular nightlife area near the college campus last week. Josephson separated herself from her friends that night and called for an Uber to take her home.
- World
- AP
- Published Date: 12:00 | 01 April 2019
- Modified Date: 09:28 | 01 April 2019
A US college student was murdered after getting into a stranger's car that she thought was her Uber ride, police say.
Officers in South Carolina said at a weekend news conference that they have arrested a suspect who faces charges in the murder and kidnapping of Samantha Josephson, 21.
She was last seen by roommates early Friday in the city of Columbia, but they became separated from her. Worried, they later called police, Chief William Holbrook told reporters.
Officers initially began a missing person's investigation, distributing photos of her talking on a phone on the street, and of a car she was seen getting into.
The driver had "approached the victim... while she awaited transportation, Holbrook said.
"She had in fact summoned an Uber ride and was waiting for that Uber ride to come," he told reporters on Saturday.
"We believe that she mistakenly got into this particular car" instead of the Uber, Holbrook said.
Hunter's found her body in a "very rural" area outside the city later that same day, he said.
Over the weekend an officer spotted the suspect's car and arrested the driver.
Blood in the vehicle was found to match that of Josephson, the chief said.
Nathaniel Rowland, 24, is in custody.