One year later: Family of missing Wagener woman seeks justice, closure

Aug. 19—One year has passed, and the family of Krystal Channel Anderson is still seeking closure. Anderson was reported missing from Wagener in August 2022.

"For me, with it being a year and having to relive all of this and not still have the remains of our sister, it's harder," said Anderon's sister, Shadira Smothers.

Anderson was last seen at her home at the 200 block of Seivern Road in Wagener. She was reported missing by her family Aug. 23, 2022 after she didn't post on social media or pick her children up from school.

Police have not been able to locate Anderson's body. Her boyfriend, Tony Lee Berry, 48, and his son, Darius Berry, 24, have been arrested and charged in connection to Anderson's disappearance.

Sgt. Steven Shunn with the Aiken County Sheriff's Office said the case is an active investigation and is currently in court. Shunn said updates on Anderson's case will be provided when they become available.

Smothers said she wants to know if her sister's body will be found.

"We want to bring her back home and lay her to rest properly and be able to say our final goodbyes to her," she said.

The case

When Anderson was first reported missing, her family was concerned because she had a history of violence with her boyfriend.

Tony was arrested in December 2022 and is facing charges of murder and kidnapping.

Darius was arrested by the Aiken County Sheriff's Office for accessory after the fact in December 2022, but the charges were later dropped.

Last week, Darius was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact to a felony in Newberry County, and Tony has arrest warrants for Newberry County for third-degree arson.

According to a Newberry County Sheriff's Office arrest warrant, Darius committed the offense of accessory after the fact of arson in that he did assist Tony by taking him away from the scene after he set fire to a 2008 Cadillac CTS.

The warrant also said Darius failed to reveal the criminal offense and continued to conceal the criminal activity of his father.

On Aug. 28, 2022 investigators with Newberry County Sheriff's Office were called to a rural area in reference to a suspicious vehicle fire and found a burnt fuel can near a burning vehicle, according to an incident report from the Newberry County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators determined that the burned car was connected to Anderson.

Police said a witness saw Tony argue with Anderson before he placed her in the back of his 2007 Cadillac CTS.

Investigators said Tony bought items that could be used to aid in the disposal of human remains.

Tony admitted to Aiken and Newberry county police he was in Newberry, and Darius admitted to police he was with his father, the report said.

Darius picked his father up at a Love's Truck Stop near the incident location, the report said.

Smothers said when her sister first went missing, she felt like she didn't get a lot of support from local police, and the family's concerns were ignored.

"I think that if law enforcement had not overlooked my sister and heard our cries, there is a possibility that we could have found her, deceased or alive," Smothers said.

The impact of the loss

Smothers said her sister's children have felt the impact of their mother's death.

"I am probably hurting more and more as time goes on, you start losing hope, you start losing faith," she said. "It's just like a storm that never clears up."

Smothers said three of the four children live with their father in South Carolina, while she is raising her sister's 7-year-old child, who her sister shared with Tony.

"It's heartbreaking because the children are separated, they miss each other all the time," Smothers said.

She said over the last couple of months, the younger child has drawn pictures and letters to her father Tony with the hope he would tell the family where her sister's body is.

Smothers said said she is using her sister's story so others can speak up and make a change.

Smothers will remember special moments she had with her sister like phone calls, talking about doing hair and giving each other advice.

Smothers said they were best friends.

"I miss our conversations and I miss her talking about her goals," she said.

Smothers said Anderson was getting a following on TikTok for her budding hair business, and Smothers said her sister was a good mother, from making sure her kids looked nice for school to writing encouraging sticky notes to her children.

"We want justice," Smothers said.

At 7:30 p.m. Aug. 20 in Columbia's Drew Park, there will be candles and a release of purple balloons for domestic violence awareness.

Smothers said she hopes that by sharing her sister's story, she can save a life or raise awareness about missing people.

"This is for Krystal, but this is for us as a community as well to bring our strength as one and stand up for domestic violence victims," she said.