Sumter officers indicate tractor-trailer struck missing 23-year-old
What originally started as a missing person’s case became a fatal hit-and-run investigation after Sumter officers indicated the missing 23-year-old was struck by a tractor-trailer truck traveling on South Guignard Drive on the night of her disappearance.
Rebecca Danielle Brown, of Sumter, was reported missing on March 17. She was last seen with friends after she walked away from the Sumter Stop, a gas station on South Guignard Drive, after 9 p.m.
Multiple searches by ground and air were conducted beginning on the night of her disappearance. The State Law Enforcement Division and specialized K-9 units from the region assisted.
Her body was discovered by a passerby on South Guignard Drive in a grassy ditch about 20 yards from the road Tuesday, according to Sumter County Coroner Robbie Baker. Brown was found about 150-200 yards from the gas station, just south Palmetto Street.
McGirt said nothing led search parties to where her body was found, and they do not think the body was moved or placed there.
An autopsy performed by the Medical University of South Carolina on Wednesday revealed the cause of death was from multiple blunt force injuries due to impact by a motor vehicle.
According to Tonyia McGirt, public information officer for the Sumter Police Department, video footage of the accident obtained from a business in the area showed a tractor-trailer truck strike Brown at 9:20 p.m.
The truck is believed to be a white Freightliner Cascadia day-cab model semi-truck, which is a single cab with no sleeping compartment, that was pulling a long, white box-style trailer, McGirt said. The vehicle likely has damage on the front right headlight area.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sumter Police Department at (803) 436-2700 or submit a tip at www.sumterpd.com/contact. Submit a tip anonymously by calling CrimeStoppers at 1-88-CRIMESC or via www.P3Tips.com and clicking "submit a tip" or by downloading the P3 Tips app on any smart device.