Aspen Jeter case: Missing 5-year-old found safe as dad is arrested on suspicion of murder
12/12/2022 12:24 pm PST
ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. (TCD) -- A missing 5-year-old girl was found safe about two weeks after her mother was found dead in her home on Thanksgiving.
On Dec. 9, Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell announced authorities located Aspen at 12:40 p.m. in Danville, Virginia. Ravenell said he got his "Christmas present early" and that the little girl was with some family members in Virginia. Other than locating Aspen, officials also arrested her father, Antar Jeter, for murder and grand larceny.
Detectives homed in on Danville because Antar reportedly made two transactions in the area, and they eventually located him in a hospital parking lot. He was taken into custody without incident.
The search for Aspen began when the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office conducted a welfare check at the home where Aspen lived with her mother, Crystal Jumper, who had not been heard from since Nov. 1. When deputies arrived, they found Jumper deceased and Aspen nowhere to be seen.
When the search for Aspen and Antar began, Ravenell said they were traveling in a blue Mazda, which Antar allegedly stole from Jumper’s home. He was still driving the Mazda when he was apprehended.
Ravenell said in a press conference that Jumper died from a gunshot wound to her upper body, and according to WACH-TV, she was in an "advanced state of decomposition" when deputies found her.
MORE:
- Orangeburg Sheriff holds a press conference with an update on missing 5-year-old Aspen Jeter. - Orangeburg County Sheriff via WIS-TV
- 5-year-old S.C. girl remains missing after her mom was found fatally shot on Thanksgiving, 11/30/2022 - TCD
- Investigators are searching for a five-year-old child reported missing from an Orangeburg residence, 11/28/2022 - Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office
- Press conference for missing Aspen Jeter, 11/30/2022 - Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office via WIS
- Orangeburg community hopeful as the search continues for missing 5-year-old Aspen Jeter, 11/28/2022 - WACH
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