A University student was found dead after getting in a car this weekend that she thought was her Uber, according to police.
Samantha Josephson, a senior, got separated from her roommates during a night out in Columbia, South Carolina. She called an Uber and got into a car she thought was her ride. Turkey hunters found her body 14 hours later about 90 miles from where she was last seen.
“What we know now is that she had, in fact, summoned an Uber ride and was waiting for that Uber ride to come,” Columbia Police Chief W.H. Holbrook said during a press conference Saturday. “We believe that she simply mistakenly got into this particular car thinking it was an Uber ride.”
Josephson’s roommates started to worry about her when they hadn’t heard from her on Friday morning. They had gone out together on Thursday night. They called the police on 1:30 p.m. Friday. The hunters found her body at around 4 p.m. that day.
Police have arrested Nathaniel David Rowland on charges of murder and kidnapping in connection to the crime. On Friday morning, police started looking for the car Josephson got into, and they were able to find it and stop Rowland later that night. When police asked him to get out of the car, he initially tried to run.
Police found blood in the car that matched Josephson’s, and the found her phone in the passenger compartment. They also found liquid bleach, germicidal wipes and window cleaner. The child safety locks on the car were activated.
Columbia Police Department Public Information Officer Jennifer Timmons said there was a woman in the car with Rowland when he was arrested, and she is cooperating with police but isn’t facing any charges at this time.
“Our hearts are broken, they’re broken. There is nothing tougher than to stand before a family and explain how a loved one was murdered,” Holbrook said during his press conference. “It was gut wrenching, words really can’t describe what they’re going through.”
Josephson’s father Seymour confirmed his daughter’s death in an emotional Facebook post this weekend.
“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 life. Samantha is no longer with us but she will not be forgotten,” he wrote. “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.”