An American woman who had been reported missing along with her boyfriend in late August has been found "chained up like a dog" inside a storage container in South Carolina.
Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright told news outlets that deputies acting on a tip found Kala Brown after hearing her banging on the container from the inside, in the town of Woodruff 128km northwest of the state capital of Columbia.
The tip reportedly came from a sex crimes investigator.
Wright said Brown had a chain around her neck. He says she told deputies she had been kept in the container for two months and had been fed regularly. The sheriff said a registered sex offender identified as Todd Christopher Kohlhepp has been arrested in connection with the incident.
"We're trying to make sure we don't have a serial killer on our hands," Wright said. (It) very possibly could be what we have."Wright said Brown told investigators that there might be four bodies on the property, but investigators have not yet confirmed that information.
He told WYFF, an NBC affiliate, they found lots of weapons and ammunition on the property. The search of the nearly 100-acre property is expected to continue for some time.
Wright said Brown and Kohlhepp knew each other but police are still trying to establish the exact nature of the contact.
Kala Brown and Charlie Carver MISSING - Aug 31, 2016 - Anderson, SC pic.twitter.com/A0vyMraaRZ— LostNMissing Inc (@lostnmissing) October 24, 2016
Kohlepp will be charged with kidnapping, and other charges are possible.
"He's currently incarcerated. We're trying to get all this sorted out and figure out what were going to charge him with. One of the charges will be kidnapping, it could be murder. It could be a number of things."
Authorities are still searching for Brown's boyfriend, 32-year-old Charles Carver.