Husband, roommates charged in death of missing South Carolina woman

ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA)– An Anderson County man has been charged with killing his wife, and the couple’s roommates are accused of helping him move her body to Pickens County, according to police.

Jessica R. Barnes, 20, of Pendleton, was found dead on Sept. 20 in the Twin Lakes area of Pickens County, the Anderson County Coroner’s Office said. She was reported missing 10 days earlier by her mother, who told police that hand not been seen since Aug.1.

On the same day her body was found, investigators searched a home on Laurel Drive that Barnes shared with her husband and some of her friends, according to Chief Robert Crosby.

According to the Pendleton police, Jessica’s husband, Brandon Barnes, admitted that he had killed his wife.

After her remains were found, the case was initially handled by Pickens County Coroner’s Office. Forensic testing performed by the Clemson Anthropology Department and a forensic odontologist confirmed the remains were those of Barnes. An autopsy showed her cause of death was asphyxiation by strangulation.

Her death was ruled a homicide. The couple’s roommates, Kendall Mims and Victoria Tippett, who ha also been arrested, told police they witnessed the killing and helped dispose of Barnes’ body.

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