A delivery driver found the body of 74-year-old Gary Herendeen behind The Designers Marketplace on Yarborough Road in Indian Land, South Carolina, on the morning of January 5, 2026. Herendeen, a part-time employee of the store for nearly five years who sometimes slept in his white Chevrolet van behind the business, was discovered with apparent gunshot wounds near his vehicle. The store had been closed for the holidays, and it was unclear how long he had been there.

Investigators believe the fatal shooting occurred in the early hours of January 2. The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department worked the case and determined the act was not random and that there was no ongoing danger to the public. Authorities identified a suspect in Charlotte, North Carolina, and on January 9 arrested 44-year-old Calvin Lamarr Allen, who was charged with murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. Allen and Herendeen were described as acquaintances who once lived in the same boarding house and had a falling out.

If anyone has information about Herendeen’s movements in late December or the first days of January, or knew of the relationship between Herendeen and Allen, please come forward.