HOLLY HILL, SC – Discovery of skeletal remains in close proximity to the South Carolina home of Melissa Aguilar, a missing grandmother, has shocked her family and raised questions about the handling of her five-month-old missing person’s case.
Aguilar, a 49-year-old resident of Holly Hill, reportedly left her house after an altercation with her ex-boyfriend on August 18. As the investigation unfolded, the authorities found human remains not too far from her home. Although formal identification has not been made, Aguilar’s sister, Sarah Shipman, has expressed shock and devastation after inadvertently finding what she believes are identifiable parts of her sister at the site.
While comforting Aguilar’s daughters, Brittany Ranew and Shanna Brown, at the scene of the gruesome discovery, Shipman said she looked down to find a jawbone, which she believes belonged to her sister. Despite the trauma of the experience, she returned to the site to gather more remains, which she claimed the law enforcement officials had overlooked.
Shipman criticized the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office for their handling of the investigation and for what she feels was a careless approach to the collection of the remains. Many additional bones and even a tooth were retrieved during a subsequent visit to the site, according to the family members.
Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell stated that the investigation into Aguilar’s whereabouts is continuing and still considered active. He refrained from commenting on the family’s allegations but requested any information from the public that could aid the investigation.
While the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office has not yet responded to the family’s allegations of inadequate handling of the case, the family members applauded the work of the coroner’s office in the matter.
An external forensic anthropologist, brought in to aid in the investigation, has collected over 90% of the skeletal remains, according to local reports. The findings have now been sent to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for processing and formal identification.
As the family continued to seek closure, Ranew recalled her mother as the family’s backbone. In her conversation with local broadcasters, she expressed her despair to adequately describe her mother’s impact on their lives and her regret that the younger members of their family would not have major life events shared with their grandmother.