One man faces charges involving the handling of the remains, but authorities have not announced a murder charge in the case.
BENNETTSVILLE, S.C. — The identification of human remains as missing Chesterfield County woman LaShaunda Spurlock has moved a two-year missing-person case into a new phase, with investigators still facing unanswered questions about her death and the circumstances surrounding the disposal of her remains.
Spurlock, 43, disappeared in April 2024 and remained missing until authorities confirmed this month that remains found April 23, 2026, near a Bennettsville apartment complex were hers. The identification links two investigations that had been proceeding across neighboring South Carolina counties: Chesterfield County’s search for Spurlock and Bennettsville police’s investigation into the remains.
The remains were found in a trash can near an apartment complex on Evergreen Court. Because their identity was not immediately known, several agencies became involved in determining who the person was and what had happened. Authorities said testing and other forensic work would be needed before an identification could be made.
Attention soon turned toward Spurlock’s disappearance. She had last been seen April 29, 2024, getting into an older-model, four-door red car on Coit Chapman Lane in the Cheraw area. Bennettsville Police Chief Sammy Crosland said in April that clothing Spurlock had been wearing when she disappeared was found during the investigation into the remains. Officials cautioned at the time that the evidence did not by itself establish the identity.
Bennettsville police arrested Luke Douglas Jr. during the April investigation. Authorities said Douglas was believed to have been the last person to see the victim and alleged that he concealed the remains in a storage area connected to the apartment complex before they were later disposed of in the trash. He was charged with an offense involving the destruction, desecration or removal of human remains.
Authorities have not accused Douglas of killing Spurlock. Crosland said after the identification that Bennettsville police were not bringing additional charges against him at that time. Earlier reporting also indicated that any further charges connected to the original missing-person investigation could fall to authorities in Chesterfield County. No such additional charge has been publicly confirmed in the material reviewed for this report.
The identification nevertheless answers a central question investigators had faced since April: whether the remains belonged to the woman whose disappearance had been investigated for two years. The Marlboro County coroner confirmed the remains were Spurlock’s, allowing her family to receive an answer after months of uncertainty following the Bennettsville discovery.
Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigator Damien Shields said investigators had continued pursuing leads throughout the time Spurlock was missing. Her mother initially raised concern when Spurlock did not return home, and investigators spent the following two years trying to determine where she had gone and whom she may have encountered.
The identification does not answer every question. Publicly available reports have not established the cause or manner of Spurlock’s death, and authorities have not announced who, if anyone, caused it. The allegations involving Douglas concern the handling of the remains and should not be treated as proof that he was responsible for Spurlock’s death.
The case now remains divided between what authorities have established and what they have not: Spurlock has been identified, her family has an answer about what became of her, and a man has been charged over the handling of her remains. How she died and whether further criminal charges will result remain unresolved.
Author note: Last updated August 20, 2026.