Across South Carolina

911 tip leads police to escaped suspect

ORANGEBURG - Police, acting on a 911 tip, captured a man facing a murder charge who escaped the previous day from the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center.

Corey Stephens was apprehended Sunday after police received a tip that he was seen on an Orangeburg street, authorities said.

Jail director Willie Bamberg said earlier that Mr. Stephens escaped Saturday when he and his cellmate tricked an officer into opening their cell door.

Mr. Stephens took the officer's keys and let out inmate Darren Walker. Mr. Stephens escaped over the perimeter fence.

Mr. Stephens is charged with murder in the November 2004 death of his girlfriend, Latasha Singleton, 19.

Driver is charged in death of bicyclist

ANDERSON - Police have charged a 55-year-old Anderson man with felony drunken driving after he was accused of hitting and killing a bicyclist with the car he was driving.

Cameron Ali Chapman, 28, died early Sunday morning after being hit by a sport utility vehicle, Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said.

Mr. Chapman was traveling home from work when he was hit from behind by a 1997 Isuzu, according to the state Highway Patrol.

Driver Charles W. Spearman was arrested at the scene, investigators said.

Foul play suspected after remains found

FORT MILL - Authorities suspect that human remains discovered by hunters might have been intentionally placed where they were found.

Officials said that hunters found the body, which had decomposed into bones, under mounds of brush Sunday, and that foul play is suspected in the death. A cause of death has not been determined.

Investigators expect to determine the victim's gender and approximate age before the remains are removed. York County Deputy Coroner Ev Amick said it typically takes more than eight months for a body to decompose into a skeleton.

It is the second time this year that a body has been found in a wooded area in York County. In April, officials found a man's body in a wooded field in Smyrna. Investigators think the man was killed.

14-mile trail planned through watershed

GREENVILLE - By next year, hikers will be able to trek a 14-mile trail through the previously closed Greenville watershed.

The rugged terrain is home to the watershed that provides drinking water to 300,000 Upstate homes and businesses.

Contractors will spend the next year clearing a dirt path for foot traffic only.

The $200,000 path straddles the North Carolina state line and will be part of the 425-mile Palmetto Trail.