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The woman whose decomposing body was discovered inside a suitcase near downtown Walterboro, South Carolina earlier this week has been identified as 32-year-old Victoria Jean Beach, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
At approximately 3:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday (April 10, 2024), the Walterboro Police Department (WPD) was directed to an abandoned building on the 200 block of Moore Street following reports of Beach’s disappearance, per the department.
“While conducting a canvass of the area, officers were met with a foul odor of possible decomposition emitting from an abandoned building,” wrote investigators. “Further investigation revealed an unidentified female who had been placed in a suitcase.”
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) was thereafter requested to assist WPD in their “discovery of some human remains,” the agency’s director of public information, Renée Wunderlich, said on Wednesday.
While anonymous sources provided FITSNews with Beach’s identity on Thursday, the author of this report was informed by WPD sergeant Tavara Edwards on Friday morning that the victim remained unidentified following an autopsy performed at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).
“We’ve had hot temperatures and stuff,” Edwards said. “Right now, they’ve at least ruled out a shooting or stabbing … but they couldn’t tell as far as strangulation because, again, this is a body that was stuffed in a suitcase.”
Edwards further told FITSNews no one was reported missing in Walterboro prior to Wednesday’s grisly discovery — only for a separate WPD official to contradict this statement in a near-simultaneous statement issued to The (Walterboro, S.C.) Press & Standard.
Three hours later, WPD confirmed Beach’s identity to WCIV TV-4 (ABC – Charleston, S.C.) reporter/ weekend anchor Conley Grayson — corroborating information provided by our sources who insist Beach’s execution was “drug and gang-affiliated.”
Of interest? Since 2020, Beach has been arrested approximately eight times for offenses including possession of methamphetamine, LSD, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, public disorderly conduct and possession/ consumption of open containers throughout the S.C. fourteenth judicial circuit.
A little over a year ago, her arrest on heroin possession following a traffic stop was highlighted on the Facebook page of the Colleton County sheriff’s office as an example of “proactive policing.” The Facebook post included an image of the drugs and drug paraphernalia on her person at the time of her arrest …
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Come December 7, 2023, Beach was sentenced to eighteen months in prison – a sentence which was thereafter suspended on the condition she consent to periodic drug testing and attend in-patient treatment while on probation in Colleton County.
Is there any truth to the rumors Beach was killed because she “snitched?”
Last month, the office of U.S. attorney Adair Ford Boroughs announced federal charges against more than a dozen defendants – several of whom have ties to the Walterboro, S.C.-based “Cowboys” gang. Despite these new charges – and many charges filed in connection with previous investigations – the Cowboys remain active across the Lowcountry.
As of this writing, WPD has not requested the public’s assistance in locating potential suspects. The Colleton County coroner’s office has furthermore failed to respond to FITSNews for two days and counting.
Approximately thirty miles south of Moore Street, another woman was recently found half-naked and zip-tied on a boat ramp next to the Coosawhatchie River on the afternoon of April 3, 2024. SLED was asked to “take over” that investigation, which remains active and ongoing as of Friday, April 12, 2024.
This story may be updated …
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UPDATE |
As this story was going to press, the WPD issued the following updated statement …
(WPD)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
(Dynal Nolan/FITSNews)
Andrew Fancher is a Lone Star Emmy award-winning journalist from Dallas, Texas. Cut from a bloodline of outlaws and lawmen alike, he was the first of his family to graduate college which was accomplished with honors. Got a story idea or news tip for Andy? Email him directly and connect with him socially across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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