South Carolina : Silene “Erica” Eaddy

Written By Navigating Advocacy Podcast

This week we are navigating advocacy in South Carolina.

The town of Hopkins, South Carolina is a census designated place 11 miles southeast of Columbia. Named after Physician John Hopkins, the town was officially founded in 1836. Just 6 miles north of South Carolina’s only national park, Congaree National Park there are ample opportunities for outdoor activities. Hiking, kayaking, and water sports are the main attractions of the town of less than 2,000 people. 

The crime rate is surprisingly high for such a small town. According to Neighborhood Scout, Hopkins is safer than only 7% of US neighborhoods. Your chance of becoming a victim of a violent crime is 1 in 114. Being such a small town, there were not many details reported to break down the crime stats. 

Columbia has a population of over 135,000 people and is safer than only 3% of US neighborhoods. The chance of becoming a victim of a violent crime is 1 in 142. In 2004, when my case took place the State Law Enforcement Division, or SLED, reported over 5,800 juvenile arrests. South Carolina defines a juvenile as anyone aged 0-16 years old. There was a 12.9% increase in juvenile arrests for violent crimes from 2003. Including 11 juvenile arrests for murder. The juvenile arrest rate for rape increased 40.4% from 2003 to 2004. The rate for robbery increased 30.1%. Aggravated assault increased 8.8%. Over 650 runaways were reported in 2004. 

My story starts before 2004. 

Silene “Erica” Eaddy started her life in the foster care system with her two siblings. At age 3, foster parents, Brenda McCoy & Frederick Eaddy, take the three children into their home where they would be adopted 2 years later. The family lived on the southeast side of Columbia just off of Fountain Lake Road. Silene was a friendly girl that enjoyed music, writing and cooking for her family. She was especially connected with her adoptive father. When Frederick died suddenly from a heart attack, Silene was greatly affected. As she entered her teenage years, she started questioning her past. Seeking answers about her birth mother and starting to act out and rebel. Silene was enrolled as a freshman at Dreher High School but her choices soon led her to being referred to Alston-Wilkes Youth Services School for at-risk youth. One article said she was referred to this new high school for cursing at another girl. She seemed to be thriving in her new school. Participating in the Jr. ROTC program, dance and continued her love of art. Silene had dreams of becoming a singer or a writer.

Silene, or Erica as many friends called her, started hanging out with a rough crowd. She had a ton of confidence, always dressed well and had her hair done. She would sneak out or hitch rides with strangers. Brenda was struggling with how to parent Silene and spoke to her neighbor Veronica about it. The friend suggested the next time she snuck out to contact law enforcement to list her as a runaway. Hoping to scare Silene about the legal ramifications of running away, she contacted the police after she had dropped Silene off at a shoe store to do some shopping and when she returned, Silene was nowhere to be found. Brenda went down to the Columbia police station to file a missing persons report. A few hours passed and Silene returned home on her own accord and the report was closed. 

Two weeks later on April 15, 2004 between 7 & 7:30pm, Veronica was outside her home tending to her grill for a barbeque when she saw Silene once again sneaking out. Veronica yelled across the street in an attempt to “catch” Silene and hoped she would turn around and go back inside. Silene disregarded the warning from her neighbor and headed out on foot. Veronica got a hold of Brenda to tell her that she witnessed Silene sneaking out. Brenda set out on foot after her but was too far behind to catch her.  

Exhausted and at a loss, Brenda returned home and said the same prayer she had said many times before when Silene took off. Praying Silene would make it home safely as she had so many times before. There was also hope that perhaps Silene was just wandering around the neighborhood chatting with different neighbors. Silene was friendly and often spoke with acquaintances around the block and she had mentioned that she was heading to visit a neighbor nearby. 

This time it was different. Silene didn’t come home. And after two days, Brenda called the police and once again reported her missing.

At 5am on April 17, 2004, the Columbia-Richland Fire Department received a call about a brush fire at the intersection of Pincushion rd and Montgomery Lane in Richland County.

This intersection is in a rural area just under 5 miles southeast of Silene’s neighborhood. Railroad tracks run parallel to pincushion road and on the opposite side the shoulderless paved road is lined with trees. Only 1.6 miles away from the nearest highway but the woods insulate these rural roads. Local law enforcement state that unless you are from the area, you would have no clue these roads even exist. 

The fire department arrived on site and immediately went to battle the fire. As they were putting out the flames, a firefighter found a body face down in the brush. The body was that of a teenage girl who had been savagely beaten. Medical examiners arrived on site and transported her for autopsy. 2 days later, Brenda was called to the medical examiner’s office to identify a body that may match the missing person’s report she made. She immediately identified the necklace with a charm of a shoe hanging on it. And Silene’s identity would be further confirmed with dental records.

The autopsy also revealed that the medical examiner believes Silene may have still been alive when her body was set on fire as they found evidence of soot in her lungs. They also determined that she could have only been deceased for a short amount of time before those early morning hours of April 17th. 

Investigators set out to investigate this homicide. Knowing she had not been deceased for long when she was found, and that she was last seen the evening of April 15th, the timeline of where Silene was is limited to roughly 34 hours. 

Law enforcement reached out to the public in 2005 asking for assistance. They went door to door with flyers, visited churches, even had driver’s license checkpoints. 

Investigators have been surprisingly tight lipped about Silene’s murder. The neighbor Silene was supposedly going to see the night she was last seen has never been named. If law enforcement knows where she was in those 30 hours, it has never been revealed. 

They have stated that they believe she was murdered by someone she knew. One detective was quoted saying that people took advantage of her. This was further verified by Brenda when she told reporters that she felt something wasn’t right with Silene and the group of people she was hanging out with. Silene had made comments to Brenda that led her to believe that she was scared and didn’t know how to get out of the situation she had put herself in with this group of people. 

With this very little information being shared, the main theory in Silene’s murder is that she learned some privileged information within this group and she was murdered. 

The second theory was that given Silene’s propensity for accepting rides from strange men, did she become a victim of opportunity? 

Silene’s case turns cold for 4 years. In an attempt to have some cold cases thaw, South Carolina Crime Stoppers Council developed a program that printed playing cards for inmates to purchase for $1.66 at the inmate commissary in 2008. At the time South Carolina housed 24,000 inmates. Each card has a different cold case featured. Silene became the three of diamonds. It showed a color photo of Silene, her name, age and a one sentence description of her case. “The victim was beaten and set on fire on 4/17/2004 in Columbia” followed by the toll free anonymous number. This deck of cards featured 43 Homicides, 8 Missing Persons, and one card with a surviving victim.

No substantial leads came into investigators. 

In 2015, detectives said they were very close to solving Silene’s case. They just need one piece of evidence or one testimony. 

In 2022, Brenda passed away never knowing what happened to her daughter. It has been 19 years since Silene was murdered. Not a single person has been named as a person of interest or arrested in connection to the homicide. 

If you have any information about who murdered Silene “Erica” Eaddy or could narrow down the timeline of when Silene was last seen alive and when she was found please contact Crimestoppers 1-888-559-TIPS or you can send a tip in by typing TIPSC plus your tip to CRIMES (275637). There is a $1,000 reward available and you can remain anonymous. You can also reach out to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department at 803-576-3000.

Navigating Advocacy Podcast

Whitney and Melissa, hosts of Navigating Advocacy, blend their true crime interests with a mission to spark justice through storytelling, inspiring action, and building a community of advocates.

https://www.navigatingadvocacy.com
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