9 replies to this topic

[Jenn]

http://www2.scnow.co...0009-ar-461098/

Missing Aynor man's family finds comfort in something he left behind

By Jody Barr/WBTW News13  Published: December 20, 2007



For the past six months, an Aynor mother hung onto hope that someone would solve the mystery of what happened to her 23-year-old son.

Kareem ward's family tries to get their lives back to normal, but the mystery surrounding Kareem’s disappearance continues to haunt them all.

Velma Ward, Kareem's mother, said she still wakes up expecting to look out her window and see his car in the driveway.

This time of year, most parents look forward to spending the holidays with their children.

But Velma, is spending her holidays rummaging through what her son left behind inside his bedroom more than 6 months ago.

Kareem went missing in June, a few days later; Horry County Police pulled his car from the Little Pee Dee River.

"Some days I go back there and I just sit down and break down and cry and some days I can go back there and it seems like I can just feel his presence there," Velma said as she talked about walking back into his bedroom.

Velma said she still spends most days watching the phone and praying it's Kareem on the other end when she sees a number she doesn't know.

"So when you see a call like that then you know, you hurry up to answer it, it could be him, but it's not him," Velma told News13.

In July, Kareem Ward's family invited News13 along as they handed out fliers around Aynor asking anyone with information to call.

Velma said Kareem left something behind, something he's never seen and something Velma Ward said has finally given her some peace.

Nearly three months to the day Kareem went missing, his girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl, Na’Asia Thompson.

Velma held the baby girl Thursday afternoon and pointed out the features she said reminded her of Kareem.

Velma said as the months slip by and no calls from police, it seems to her, no one cares.

"We feel like we have been forgotten; in the system we're just forgotten about, that he's just one gone, one more gone," Velma Ward said.

Horry County Police Sergeant Bob Carr told News13 Thursday that investigators received a lead in the case, but wouldn’t say what investigators learned.

Carr said the investigation into Ward’s disappearance remains open and active.

Velma said she'll always have a piece of her son in Ni’Asia; something she says is a gift from god.

Velma said her family's in counseling to help them deal with Kareem's disappearance.

Kareem's family is offering a $1,000 reward for any information that leads to finding him, or to finding out what happened to him.

If you have any information about this case, please call Horry County Police at 843-915-8345 or Horry County Crime Stoppers at (843) 248-5005.

[Jenn]

http://www2.scnow.co...ater-ar-455515/

Horry County man still missing one year later

By Thema Ponton Published: June 18, 2008

Kareem Ward's family took News13 along with them as they handed out fliers with the missing man's picture, just six months ago.

Horry county police pulled Ward's car out of the Little Pee Dee River just days after he went missing.

Ward's family still doesn't know what happened to the 23-year-old and they find it hard to hold out hope they'll ever see him alive.

Kareem’s mother Velma Warren said she and her family just want to know what happened, they say somebody knows what happened to Kareem and they held a memorial Monday evening to let people know that they have not forgotten.

Kareem Ward was a very special person, sweet, loving, kind, would give you the shirt off his back, those are just some of the words family and friends used to describe the young man who's been missing for a year.

Warren said if she can just get some closure and find out what happened to her son, she can go on with her life.

"It's really stalled, each and everyday it's a different day for me, I get up one, two, three o'clock in the morning and I just fall on my knees and pray and ask God to please send us some closure to this thing, it's just too much for me to handle so I just give it all to him." said Warren.

Warren also leans on support from her family, specifically, Kareem’s baby daughter who was born just months after he was reported missing.

She also has support from people like Chief Deputy Paul Butler, who spoke at the memorial, not on behalf of the Horry County sheriff's department, but because he's a family friend and wants anyone who knows anything to please come forward.

Velma Warren said, "You just got to put yourself in my shoes and just say I wonder how she's sleeping at night, you know just think of it like that just put yourself in my shoes because it could be me now, but it could be you the next time."

Ward’s family said what ever happened to Kareem is not something that can be swept under the rug and they will not let anybody forget him, his life, or his legacy.

They hope the memorial will maybe jog someone's memory and they will come forward with information about what happened.

[Jenn]

Charley Project Profile for Kareem: http://www.charleypr...ard_kareem.html

[Lori Davis]

http://www.carolinal...25#.Ur7rIPRDt8E

 

High-profile missing person cases in Horry County

by Kaila DeRienzo

Posted: 12.27.2013 at 9:35 PM

 

Several people have gone missing from our area since 2007. The searches for all of them continue today.

 

Kareem Ward, 22, was last seen in Aynor on June 16, 2007. Ward's car was pulled from a boat landing on the Pee Dee River three days later, but he was nowhere to be found.

 

Brittanee Drexel, a 17-year-old from Rochester, New York, disappeared while on a spring break trip to Myrtle Beach in 2009. Her case was featured on many national media outlets.

 

A former trainer for the Coastal Carolina University football team, Brandon "Peanut" Graves, was last seen at a Sumter nightclub on January 30th, 2010.

 

In August, 19-year-old Zachary Malinowski went missing in Aynor. His burned out car was found not far from his Horry County home, but Malinowski is still missing.

 

Most recently, there is the case of Heather Elvis, a 20-year-old Socastee woman who was reported missing by her father, Terry Elvis, on December 19. Her car was found at Peachtree Landing in Socastee, and the search for her has been going on ever since.

 

"I know that I'm trying to keep busy with it. I know that I'm doing everything that I can think of. But no matter how much it is, I feel like it's not enough that I'm doing because she's not home," Terry Elvis said.

 

Monica Caison and volunteers from the CUE Center for Missing Persons are helping Elvis search for his daughter, but they're also still looking for Kareem, Brittanee, Brandon and Zachary.

 

"You have to just continue to look, and as information comes up, whether through law enforcement or other things in the case come up, there's always another place to look. And as long as we do that, we'll have a search."

 

Caison said the group does have success stories, and never gives up on any of the cases they receive.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.wmbfnews....on-tidewater-rd

 

A look back on missing persons cases after human remains discovered

 

Posted: Dec 30, 2013 8:02 PM EST

Updated: Dec 30, 2013 8:04 PM EST

By Mandy Noell

 

HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - Two women were reported missing in Horry County within a week. Days later, bare-bone skeletal remains were discovered on Tidewater Road. Since the remains were found, online speculation has run rampant about who the remains may belong to.

 

"They're definitely human bones," said Horry County Coroner Robert Edge. "At this point, we're not sure how long they've been there, but apparently at least a year for that much decomp(osition) to have occurred."

 

Dating back a year, there have been four missing-person cases in the area since 2005.

 

Brittanee Drexel has become a household name in the Grand Strand since she disappeared while on spring break in Myrtle Beach in April 2009. The mystery surrounding the case of the then- 17-year-old made national headlines. Drexel was seen on a camera leaving her hotel on Ocean Blvd and was never seen again.

 

Since her disappearance, search parties have scoured the Myrtle Beach area looking for any trace of Drexel, who would be 22-years-old today, to no avail.

 

Crystal Soles was 28-years-old when she went missing. She was walking home from a store in Andrews in January 2005, and vanished. Like Drexel, there has been search after search conducted for Soles, many by the CUE Center, and as recent as August 2013, but she has never been found.

 

The last person to have seen Kareem Ward in June 2007 was his mother. According to the police report, she said he was in his car by himself. Just days after his disappearance, his car was pulled from the Little Pee Dee River. The police report said a cell phone was also in the car, but Kareem was never located.

 

Susan Deluca was supposed to be traveling North to visit family in April 2010, but she never made it. Her family soon reported her missing, and two months later, cadaver dogs found her car submerged, like Ward's, in the Little Pee Dee River. Like the above, Deluca's case was never solved.

 

It's important to know that the remains found on tidewater road might not belong to any of these people. But someone, somewhere may soon receive a bittersweet answer to a very long-awaited question.

 

Anyone with information on the disappearances of any of these individuals is encouraged to call the anonymous tip line, Crime Stoppers. That number is 1-888-CRIME-S-C.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.counton2....-quick-analysis

 

Horry Coroner says bones belong to male in his 20s

Posted: Dec 30, 2013 10:57 AM EST

Updated: Dec 31, 2013 3:23 PM EST

By Haley Hernandez

By Cuthbert Langley

 

The eyes of the state are focusing on Horry County after the number of missing people in that area continues to grow and now remains have been found.

 

Tuesday the Horry County Coroner said the bones appear to belong to a male in his 20s, confirming his belief that the bones are human.

 

The remains were found Sunday off Tidewater Drive near Waccamaw Boulevard in Horry County.

 

Officials have sent the remains to Texas instead of having them analyzed with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, as they told WBTW News it's believed experts in Texas can expedite the process.

 

The most recent report of a missing person came last week when 24-year-old Jamie Lynn Cross of Murrells Inlet was last seen December 23rd. She is described as having blue eyes and neon pink hair and a tattoo on her forearm with the name of her son. Cross was last seen leaving her Myrtle Beach home in her green Volkswagen.

 

Cross's disappearance comes less than a week after 20-year-old Heather Elvis was reported missing. Officials say there is no reason to believe the two are related.

 

Elvis was reported missing on December 19th after her car was discovered abandoned.

 

The Cue Center for Missing Persons intensified the search over the weekend, asking dozens of boaters to help search the Waccamaw River and "Intracoastal Waterway."

 

The founder of the Center said it is important to always keep searching, so the case can continue.

 

"It's vital in any missing person case to continue that journey as long as that person is missing, so they'll always be what we call, 'the next search,'" Monica Caison said.

 

Horry County Police Department says it looks like the remains found Sunday have been there between 4 and 5 years.

 

It was six years ago that 22-year-old Kareem Ward disappeared, last seen in Aynor on June 16, 2007. Ward's car was pulled from a boat landing on the Pee Dee River but he's been missing ever since.

 

It was four and a half years ago that New York teenager, Brittanee Drexel, disappeared during a trip to Myrtle Beach.

 

Zachary Malinowski of Conway also disappeared in August of this year after a basketball game. The 19-year-old's car was found burned in the woods near Aynor.

 

There are a total of 21 people who have reported missing in the state. Many of those are from the Charleston and Myrtle Beach areas, including Gayle McCaffery. As the years pass since someone disappeared, Caison said the search become more difficult.

 

"It just takes a lot more detail," she said. "A good, keen eye. Good dogs that you're working with, and people that are trained in responsible in the field to know that everything can matter."

 

Caison tells News 2 that many of the families of those missing have been at the location of the recent discovery. She also said they are waiting for the DNA test results from those discovered remains but are confident it will bring one of their families closure.

 

One of those families is that of Brittanee Drexel. Her mother, Dawn, released this statement Monday afternoon:

 

I would like to thank everyone for their concern and support for my daughter, Brittanee, in the recent discovery made in Horry County. There are many missing children and adults in the region who have families suffering in anticipation after this latest news and who, alongside our family, await for a resolution as well. I ask at this time to please wait for investigators to make a positive identification and be allowed to do their job.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.carolinal...24#.U3qJs_ldV8E

 

Highlighting the Missing: Kareem Ward

by Allyson Floyd

Posted: 03.04.2014 at 7:30 PM

WPDE NewsChannel 15 is highlighting missing persons cases from around our area who are part of the Cue Center for Missing Persons website. Click here for information on the missing in our area.

 

On June 16, 2007, Kareem Ward last seen in the Aynor area. Three days later, his car was pulled from the Little Pee Dee River at a boat landing on Gunter's Lake Road, but there's still no sign of him.

 

Kareem was 22 years old when he vanished.

 

He has a daughter whom he never got to meet. She's now 6 years old.

 

In 2012, on the fifth anniversary of his disappearance, his mother, Velma Warren, told WPDE NewsChannel 15 she uses her faith to cope with his disappearance. "I prayed and just asked the Master to keep me like he has always been doing. Strengthen me so I can hold up and go on. And I pray to Him and asking Him to keep me, and I would love to know where my sons remains are."

 

If you have any information about Ward's disappearance you're asked to call the Horry County police tip line at 915-TIPS (8477).

 

For more information on this case, click here.

[Deborah]

Kareem is still missing, someone has the answers his family deserves!

 

 

 

If you have any information about Ward's disappearance you're asked to call the Horry County police tip line at 915-TIPS (8477).

[Deborah]

NamUs Profile

 

https://www.findthem.../cases/23932/2/

[Deborah]

Kareem is still missing, someone has the answers his family deserves!

 

 

 Horry County police tip line at 915-TIPS (8477).