Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Fake Uber Driver Accused Of Killing Student Linked To Another Kidnapping
Nathaniel Rowland was charged with obtaining goods under false pretenses mere months ago.
The man accused of kidnapping and killing a South Carolina University student after she got into his car, mistaking it for an Uber, has been linked to a previous kidnapping.
Nathaniel David Rowland, 24 is accused of killing 21-year-old-Samantha Josephson who, earlier this month, was heading home after a night out with friends in Columbia, South Carolina when she got into a car she thought was her Uber ride.
Hunters discovered her body in a rural area less than a day later.
Rowland has since been charged with murder and kidnapping in relation to her death.
But the tragic death of Josephson isn’t the first kidnapping that Rowland has been linked to. Just months before her death, he allegedly tried to sell items stolen from a woman during a separate kidnapping, according to WLTX in Columbia.
Back in October, a woman told police in Columbia that two men carjacked her while she was at a traffic light. The men allegedly forced her to drive to a nearby ATM to get them money before having her drive to her own home. Items from her home, including a Playstation 4, were reportedly stolen during the incident. The men also allegedly assaulted that victim.
Hours after the violent incident, Rowland was allegedly caught selling some of the stolen items from the house to a pawn shop. He was charged with obtaining goods under false pretenses. He was not charged with the carjacking or any kidnapping and it's not clear if officials believe that he was one of the men initially involved or not.
Rowland is due in court on April 22. It will be his first appearance in connection with Josephson’s case.
Rowland’s family members have claimed he is innocent.
“If he did it, I’ll be the first one to put him behind bars, lock him up, throw away the key, but he didn’t do it, ain’t no way,” Henry Rowland said of his son during an interview with WACH.
Josephson was just months away from graduating from the University of South Carolina. She had plans to attend law school afterward.
