A South Carolina man arrested after a woman was found chained inside a large storage container on his rural property went before a judge Friday.
The woman who was found chained up like a dog in a metal container after vanishing two months ago with her boyfriend has revealed she witnessed her captor murder her partner, just hours after police found a body on the 100-acre property.
Spartenburg coroner Rusty Clavenger confirmed a corpse had been unearthed by police, less than 24 hours into the investigation of the sprawling property in Woodruff, South Carolina.
The sex of the discovered body was not revealed, and police said they are still searching for three more.
Fears are growing one of the bodies they are searching for could be Charlie Carver, the 32-year-old boyfriend of Kala Brown, the woman discovered on Thursday on a property owned by Todd Kohlhepp by deputies acting on a tip-off they received.
Carver and Brown had last been seen on August 30. The 32-year-old's car was found on the property on Thursday night.
Lawyers for the Woodruff Solicitor's Office said during Kohlhepp's bond hearing on Friday afternoon in the Spartanburg County Detention Center that Brown told deputies she saw the 45-year-old murder her boyfriend.
Solicitor Barry Barnette said Brown saw her captor shoot her boyfriend dead.
'She told us this individual did kill him in her presence,' Barnette said.
Kohlhepp had a public defender during his appearance. He was not handcuffed, but sat with his hands behind his back.
He then went on to tell the hearing Brown was found with chains around her neck and ankles, and that addition chains were found in Kohlhepp's bedroom along with a 'unbelievable' amount of ammunition.
Carver's family released a statement on Friday afternoon, shortly before the bond hearing got underway.
'We, Charlie David Carver's family, would like to begin by saying how wonderful it is Kala has been found and that she is receiving care and is back with family and friends,' it read.
'The outpouring of concern and affection from the community has been overwhelming and we are very thankful.
'At this time we know that no more than what has been reported within the media or statements made by law enforcement.
Charlie Carver. Photo / Facebook / Finding Kala and Charlie
'We ask that you continue to pray for Kala's healing and for David's safe return as well. In the meantime, we ask for some time to ourselves as we process events as they unfold.
'Thank you for your understanding and expect updates as they become available.'
The family statement was released after helicopters were seen on Friday morning, along with a backhoe and police dogs that were being used in nearby woods as part of the search.
It comes after it was revealed Kohlhepp, 45, who owns the 100-acre property is a registered sex offender, and has been arrested in connection with the incident, the sheriff said.
Kohlhepp was also arrested for the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in 1986, when he was 15. He was jailed from 1987 to 2001 over the incident.
Court documents, obtained by WFXG, detail how Kohlhepp pointed a 'small blue steel handgun at (the victim's) head' and led her into his house. Inside, he 'placed gray duct tape over her mouth' and 'tied her hands together with a rope', before removing her clothes and 'forcing the victim to have sexual intercourse with him'.
The judge who ruled on the case described Kohlhepp as 'impulsive, explosive, and preoccupied with sexual content' from the age of nine.
'He has not changed. He has been unabatedly aggressive to others and destructive of property since nursery school. He destroys his own clothing, personal possessions and pets apparently on whim,' court papers state.
The documents also cite a psychiatrist's report that says the 45-year-old has 'emotional difficulties and poor impulse control'.
It was reported on Thursday Kohlhepp is a real estate agent, and Sheriff Wright said Brown worked for suspect.
Brown's close friend, Leah Miller, confirmed the 30-year-old started working for Kohlhepp only weeks before she vanished.
She said Brown helped Kohlhepp clear and clean properties before he put them on the market, according to Greenville Online.
'I was supposed to be helping Kala, but I recently had neck surgery,' Miller said.
'I'm just in shock, wondering if she tried to reach me to help her before she disappeared.'
Another friend, Lindsey Mayson, told WSPA the suspected kidnapper did not seem like a bad person when she met him.
'We went by his house to get a key before we went by his house to clean. Didn't seem like a person who would do anything to anybody. He seemed down to earth,' Mayson said.
Earlier, Wright said Brown was 'chained inside the container like a dog' when police found her.
He said she told deputies she had been kept in the container - which measured 30 feet by 15 feet by 10 or 12 feet - for two months and had been fed regularly.
'It's all by God's grace that we found that little girl alive,' Wright told NBC News.
A massive investigation is now underway on the 100-acre property, according to WYFF4.
Kala Brown and Charlie Carver's missing posters from Facebook page Finding Kala and Charlie. Photo / Facebook
Brown has since been taken to local hospital for treatment and Wright said she was 'obviously traumatized' but 'alive and well,' according to The State.
She reportedly told police as many as four bodies may have been buried on the property.
'One of the charges will be kidnapping, it could be murder. It could be a number of things.'
Anderson Police Chief Jim Stewart said his department's investigation into the disappearance of Brown and Carver led authorities to the property near Woodruff, 80 miles northwest of the state capital of Columbia, where the woman was found.
Stewart said more than a dozen search warrants were issued.
'We got computer and cellphone records that ultimately led us to the area in Woodruff,' Stewart said.
'We knew that was the last place that a cellphone tied to this case pinged.'
Kohlhepp was added to the sex offender registry in 1987 when he was convicted and sentenced to prison for kidnapping and raping a 14-year-old girl in Arizona in 1986.
Records indicate Kohlhepp, orginally from Arizona, is a licensed real estate agent as well as a licensed pilot.
He is listed as a self-employed and as the owner/broker in charge at Todd Kohlhepp and Associates LLC located in Greenville on his Facebook page.
Carver and Brown were last seen together leaving a friend's home on August 30.
The next day, surveillance footage caught Carver leaving his work. That day marked the last the couple's friends or family heard from them.
Carver and Brown had been dating just a few months, and had moved in together over the summer as Carver was going through a divorce.
After failing to answer calls or messages from their loved ones, the couple's parents searched their apartment a few days later and found Brown's Pomeranian inside without any food or water.
Medications and Brown's glasses were also left behind in the abandoned apartment.
Neighbor Nicholas Arocho told Greenville Online that Carver's family took Pomeranian and paid the couple's rent for a couple of months after they disappeared.
Kala Brown. Photo / Facebook
The family later packed up the couple's belongings, he said.
As the search for the missing couple started, Carver's Facebook - which he does not typically use - started becoming more active.
On September 1, the account posted an update that the two had gotten married and then on September 6 his profile picture was changed.
Other posts include links to stories and GoFundMe fundraisers for the missing couple.
