Deceased/Not Found SC - Shelton Sanders, 25, Richland County, June 2001

South Carolina authorities charged a man with murder this week in connection with the disappearance of a college student.

Mark Anthony Richardson, 30, was arrested Wednesday and charged with shooting his former roommate, Shelton John Sanders, to death in June 2001. Richardson’s initial court appearance was scheduled for Monday.

Sanders’ body has not been found, and Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said it may never be.

Sanders was last seen in a Columbia neighborhood where he was helping a friend plan a bachelor party. His car was found two years later at an apartment complex several miles away.

According to an arrest warrant, records indicate that Richardson was using his cellular telephone in the area where the car was found not long after Sanders was killed. Richardson has said he was at his home with Sanders when neighbors said they heard several gunshots, Lott said.

Lott said deputies did not have a motive for the alleged killing, but he said several people told investigators that Richardson said he was going to kill one of his friends.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9622250/

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8205807


Updated: Apr 26, 2008 5:48 PM MDT

...Mark Anthony Richardson was on trial for the murder of Shelton Sanders, who has been missing since 2001.

But the fact that prosecutors have no crime scene, no eyewitnesses to a killing, no weapon, and no body led to a judge declaring a mistrial at 7:00pm Monday after a jury couldn't reach a verdict...

...There's no word yet on a possible retrial.

Click to expand...

The Charley Project

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/sanders_shelton.html

North American Missing Persons Network

http://www.nampn.org/cases/sanders_shelton.html

NamUs Profile

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/show/10231

Just came across this mp trying to find a match for this uid found in water a long way away so not likely,but just in case..
Canada's Missing | Case details
"Case reference: 2016059837
On December 6, 2001, a male was found in the Detroit River, near 4200 block on Sandwich Street"

Jan 11 2021

A South Carolina family is asking for help, searching for their son who went missing back in 2001 and they believe some people in the Upstate may know where he can be found.

The Sanders family, near Sumter, said their son Shelton was last seen June 19, 2001 in Columbia.

At the time, he was a senior at USC. That night, they said, he was searching for hotel rooms, helping to plan a bachelor party for a good friend.

He called home to his family in Sumter around 8 o’clock that night, according to his mom, Peggy, and told her he’d be back later than expected.

“I just took it for granted that he would be home in the next couple of hours,” she recalled.

But he never came back.

In 2003, his car was found in a Columbia apartment complex.

The family is now offering a $25,000 reward for accurate location and discovery of his remains.

“We just want closure. Please help the Sanders family bring closure,” said Wilveria.

To access the Facebook page, click here.

The tipline number is 803-427-4209.

South Carolina family looking for closure after cold case spanning nearly 20 years

South Carolina family looking for closure after cold case spanning nearly 20 years
Shelton Sanders (Source: WYFF)

Finding Shelton Sanders
16 Aug 2020
Shelton John Sanders
#Missing Since: June 19, 2001 from Columbia, #SouthCarolina
Date of Birth: August 31, 1975
Age: 25 years old
Distinguishing Characteristics: African-American male.

Sanders was last heard from by his family, who lives in Rembert, South Carolina, at 9:00 p.m. on June 19, 2001, when he called them on his cellular phone to say he was on his way home from Columbia, South Carolina. He was last seen at 9:51 p.m. that day at Embassy Suites hotel in Columbia, where he was planning a bachelor party for a friend. Sanders was driving his brother's white 1988 Oldsmobile Regency with the license plate number 214-LZM. The vehicle has a sunroof and a sticker on the rear bumper reading "Carolina Richardson for Treasurer."
Sanders has never been heard from again and his credit cards and cellular phone have not been used since his disappearance. The Oldsmobile which disappeared with him was found in April 2003, backed into a parking space at Greenbrier Apartments near the Columbia Place Mall. The location is about a dozen miles away from where Sanders was last seen. Authorities stated the vehicle had been there for at least two months and possibly as long as the time Sanders had been missing. There was no sign of him at the scene. No fingerprints or DNA evidence was recovered from the vehicle.

Sanders's father is a county judge. Authorities investigated the possibility that Sanders's disappearance was related to his father's line of work, but they quickly discarded the theory. In October 2005, Mark Anthony Richardson was arrested and charged with murdering Sanders. Authorities believe the men, who were friends, were at Richardson's home the night Sanders disappeared and that Richardson shot him to death there. No possible motive for the crime has been made public. Sanders's remains have not been found and prosecutors stated they may never be found. Richardson was tried for murder in April 2008. His defense argued there was no proof that Sanders was even deceased. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared as a result. Richardson may be retried at some future date.

Sanders was a student at the University of South Carolina at the time of his disappearance; he majored in administrative information management and was due to graduate in December 2001. He was employed as a computer systems manager at the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science at the university's medical school. He lived with his parents in Rembert forty miles away, and commuted to Columbia for work and school. He is described as a high-achieving student and a conscientious worker who always notified his employers if he intended to be absent. Foul play is suspected in his case due to the circumstances involved.

Nearly two decades after his disappearance, the family of Shelton Sanders still searching for his remains - ABC Columbia
Oct 29, 2020

After finding no trace of his location for nearly two years, authorities found his car, a white 1988 Oldsmobile Regency, in the parking lot of the Greenbrier Apartment complex near the Columbia Place Mall.

Snip

“We triangulated his cell phone records and we were able to, on the night that Shelton Sanders was last seen and heard from, we were able to put Mark Richardson’s cell phone records right where the car was found,” said Sgt. Shawn McDaniels, the investigator from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department on the case.

The "Unresolved" podcast has released an episode about this missing person:

https://player.fm/series/unresolved-1456736/shelton-sanders

Man has been missing for nearly 20 years, family seeks answers

We’re approaching the 20th year since a USC student disappeared without a trace. To this day, Shelton Sanders’ family is still searching for answers.

According to Richland County deputies, in 2005 they arrested Richardson and charged him with murder. They say during the interrogation, he asked them ‘how do I explain getting rid of a body?’

He later went back on this statement because the victim’s body was never found.

The trial ended in 2008 as a hung jury.

“We just want closure, it’s time and 20 years is a long time to lose your loved one and not know where they are,” said Sanders. “We’re praying for the remains to come home for a proper burial.”

The family says they aren’t giving up and they have five billboards and dozens of yard signs through the midlands offering a $25,000 reward for anyone with information.

JUN 20, 2021
Shelton Sanders remembered, celebrated by family and friends | wltx.com
[...]

The Sanders family held an event Saturday to remember Shelton and as for more information on where his body is located.

[...]

“Through the initial investigation, they were able to gather enough evidence to determine that it was a homicide," says senior investigator with the Richland County Sheriff's Office Dottie Cronise, "and the homicide, it’s gone cold. It was turned over to cold cases this year. We’re following up on things that are already there, that people are coming forward about and we’re hoping that events like today will kind of inspire people to think about what’s going on, how this has impacted the family in the last 20 years.”

[...]

This is pretty lengthy article...I've snipped a few things.

‘We still have hope.’ SC family searches for missing son’s body 20 years later

...SBM

On Interstate 20 near the Two Notch Road exit, a billboard shows a picture of Shelton with #FindingSheltonSanders. The billboard offers $25,000 for information that leads to his body being found.

...SBM

Richardson was a friend and former roommate of Shelton’s. The two went back to Richardson’s house in Olympia. That’s the final location where Shelton was known to be.

Richland deputies charged Richardson with murder in 2005.

...SBM

Witnesses reported hearing gunshots from Richardson’s property. Richardson admitted he and Shelton were the only people at the house when the gunshots went off. Other witnesses signed sworn statements saying Richardson had said he wanted to kill one of his friends. Cell phone records placed Richardson near the apartments where Shelton’s car was found on the night of his disappearance.

When questioned by an investigator about Shelton’s disappearance, Richardson replied, “How can I explain disposing of the body?” a prosecutor told the jury and The State reported.

”Mark Richardson convicts himself with his statements about that night,” the prosecutor said.

Richardson’s lawyer, prominent criminal defense attorney and former state representative I.S. Leevy Johnson, argued that Shelton may still be missing rather than dead and that prosecutors had no hard evidence that Richardson killed Shelton.

The jury was hung. Seven jurors found Richardson guilty but five found him not guilty or were undecided, according to the Sanders family. The judge declared a mistrial.

Richardson has never been tried again.

...SBM
Whether it’s the 20th or the 50th anniversary of Shelton’s disappearance, Wilveria said she’ll still be searching for her brother’s remains.

”I’m going to do it until someone speaks up,” Wilveria said.

Shelton John Sanders – The Charley Project

Last updated July 15, 2021; clothing/jewelry description added.

Contains a brief mention...

Hundreds of people missing in South Carolina | wltx.com

Reward increased for man missing 21 years

The family of Shelton Sanders is now offering fifty thousand dollars to anyone who can help them find his remains.

NOV 15, 2022

‘Keeping the faith’: Missing persons memorial shines bright in Sumter after unveiling ceremony Sunday - The Sumter Item

It’s been almost two years since a Sumter mother began her mission to shine light on a social issue that hit her own home.Her determination, persistence and passion finally came to a crux late …

www.theitem.com

[...]

The memorial site ended up taking nearly two years to complete. The group went from council to council, asking for a piece of property. It wasn’t until April 2021 that Sumter County Council approved a site at 115 N. Harvin St., the location of a former Holocaust memorial that has since moved to a new home.

Fundraisers were held to purchase the light, benches and construction, and it wasn’t until Feb. 17 of this year that the concrete was poured. By the end of the summer, the benches and light were installed.

[...]

Several families of missing people from Sumter attended and spoke at the unveiling. Those included family members and friends of Garcia, Willie Hodge Jr., Barbara Nave, Tommy Brailey, Barbara Jenkins, Julia Bean, Naomi Collins, Stacy Lester and Shelton Sanders.

[...]

Back in January of 2022, The Vanished released a podcast episode with Shelton's story. I'll link it here in case anyone following his disappearance missed it:

After listening to the episode, I'd really like to know where else MR's phone pinged the night Shelton disappeared. We know it pinged at the Greenbrier Apartments where the car was later found, but where else? I'd love to have a map of places his phone pinged to identify some potential search areas.

I'm also really interested to know when and where Shelton's phone last pinged. Surely law enforcement would have checked that? But I don't recall it being mentioned during the episode. If his phone wasn't in the car, chances are it's still with his body, wherever that may be. If Marissa brought that up at all during the podcast, I missed it.