Berkeley County Jane Doe Finally ID’d; Murder Linked To Famous Serial Killer

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – Nearly 50 years after her skeletal remains were found, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office has finally identified the woman known for decades simply as “Berkeley County Jane Doe.” According to Sheriff Duane Lewis, her untimely death came at the hands of a notorious serial killer.

Lewis said the woman has been identified as Leola Etta Bryant. Bryant was 51 years old at the time of her death.

On October 4, 1977, human remains were found by a worker clearing brush on Sawgrass Avenue in Goose Creek. At that time, the Berkeley County Coroner collected the scattered remains and sent them to the Medical University of South Carolina for examination. The gender of the remains could not be determined. The remains were returned to the sheriff’s office in June 2020.

They were transferred to the University of North Texas for Human Identification Forensic Anthropology for further analysis, where they were able to determine the victim was likely an African American female of medium build between the ages of 30 and 60, with a height of 5 foot 4 inches to 5 foot 6 inches.

BCSO Cold Case investigators then sent the remains to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office where a facial reconstruction was created.

During the investigation, it was determined the victim was murdered by serial killer Samuel “Sam” Little. Before his death in 2020, convicted murderer Little was interviewed extensively and confessed to a killing he committed in the Charleston area in the 1970s.

Detectives reviewed the audio and video recordings from Little’s confessions and began to investigate further. Little told detectives he murdered an unidentified female by strangulation after meeting her at a nightclub in North Charleston. Little provided an additional detailed description of the geographic location where he drove the victim and where the homicide occurred.

Earlier this year, BCSO Cold Case detectives John Plitsch and Darrell Lewis were provided with additional information from the FBI Investigative Genetic Genealogy Team of someone with potential family ties to the victim. Detectives interviewed the person and were able to close the gap on missing information from the case and able to positively identify the victim.

During the interview, it was revealed the victim went missing in March 1974. She was last seen at the Midway Bar on Reynold’s Avenue, the same location Little stated he met the victim prior to killing her. It was discovered that the victim, 51 years of age at the time, was reported missing then to the North Charleston Police Department.

According to the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, the contributions and success achieved in this case is a perfect example of the importance and effectiveness of law enforcement agencies from varying jurisdictions working together to achieve a common goal.

The post Berkeley County Jane Doe Finally ID’d; Murder Linked To Famous Serial Killer first appeared on The Berkeley Observer .