Hunters in Georgetown County, South Carolina, found a shallow grave in the Choppee area on February 18, 2023, containing skeletal remains identified as 57-year-old Melvin Wise and 41-year-old Andrene Stewart, both from the Bronx, New York. Autopsies determined both died of gunshot wounds and their deaths were ruled homicides. Reports say Wise and Stewart had been visiting relatives in the Dunbar community in late 2022 and had been living with Melvin’s sister, Patricia Wise, at the time of their deaths.

Investigators arrested three people in connection with the case. On March 23, 2023, 52-year-old Patricia Wise and 55-year-old Wilbur Lang were taken into custody; each faced charges including two counts of accessory after the fact, obstruction of justice, and criminal conspiracy, and Lang also faced two counts of desecration of human remains. On November 7, 2023, 32-year-old Lavorn Hakeem Johnson was arrested and charged with two counts of murder, two counts of desecration of a corpse, and two counts of possession of a firearm during a violent crime. All three were held in the Georgetown County Detention Center pending further proceedings.

Are there witnesses or neighbors in the Dunbar or Choppee areas who remember seeing Melvin or Andrene while they were visiting?