‘Boogeyman’ charged in death of SC woman missing for 13 years, body found in sand pit

Thirteen years after she disappeared, remains belonging to Adrianna Laster were found in a sandpit in Elgin, South Carolina. Last Thursday, Freddie Grant, Laster’s boyfriend who law enforcement long suspected of abducting and murdering the mother and Florida native, was charged in her murder.

It is the second murder connected to Grant, who pleaded guilty in 2013 to abducting and murdering 15-year-old Gabriellia “Gabbiee” Swainson.

On Feb. 1, Grant was charged with two counts of domestic violence, one count of kidnapping and one count of murder in Kershaw County.

“This was a long time coming,” said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott. “We knew that he was responsible for Adrianna Laster’s death but it was just a matter of finding her body.”

There was no deal cut for Grant, who Lott has previously called a “boogeyman” and a “monster,” when he was under investigation for Swainson’s murder in 2012. Grant ultimately cut a deal with authorities and led investigator’s Swainson’s body in exchange for a 30-year sentence and the release of his daughter, who was accused of being an accessory, from jail.

Court records indicate that Grant has been indicted, but records do not provide any information about whether bond has or will be set for Grant. He is currently incarcerated at the state Department of Corrections.

Laster met Grant when he was living in Florida, said Phyllis Horn, the paternal grandmother of Laster’s daughter, Crystal.

Court records show that, after serving in the Army, where he was convicted for assault, Grant split his time between Florida and South Carolina. All the while, he racked up criminal charges. In July 1988 he was charged with aggravated battery on a spouse and disorderly conduct in Dade County, Florida. In October 1990 he was charged with cocaine trafficking in Dade County, and the following January he was charged with cocaine distribution in Richland County.

While out on bond for the South Carolina charge, he was arrested again on cocaine possession in Florida after a search of his bag on an Amtrak train revealed a loaded pistol, according to court records. As Grant fled the cops, he threw down a baggie containing cocaine. He was convicted of this charge in May, 1992 and received a sentence of two days time served.

In April 2011 Grant was arrested at his home in Elgin after he was alleged to have dragged Laster out of a car and slammed her head into a brick wall, according to court records. Laster, who had lived with Grant for two years since leaving Florida, received a knot on her head, scratches on her arms and neck and a cut on her leg.

Grant was convicted of criminal domestic violence in July 2011 and received a 30 day jail sentence that was suspended after he paid a $1,073 fine.

Laster was missing since Labor Day Weekend, 2011, when neighbors on Kelly Street, where she lived with Grant in his home that had been partially destroyed by a fire, saw her walking to church.

She wasn’t reported missing until March 2012, just months before Grant abducted and murdered Swainson.

Grant has been incarcerated since 2012, when he was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon after shotgun shells and .38-caliber bullets were found at his home during the search for Swainson. During that search, investigators discovered that one of the last places that her cell phone was active was near Grant’s home.

Following the search of the home, they discovered duct tape with Swainson’s DNA as well as a key to Swainson’s home in Northeast Columbia, where she lived with her mother. Grant, who had done some work around the Swainson’s home, had previously claimed to have lost the key.

Grant initially denied any connection to Swainson’s disappearance. But in 2013, he confessed and led law enforcement to Swainson’s grave after officers charged his daughter with being an accessory when she was discovered to have been in the vicinity of the Myrtle Beach Piggly Wiggly where Swainson’s cell phone was ultimately found.