The Misery Machine - Gabrielle Swainson + Adriana Laster: Kidnapped in the Midlands

Episode Date: January 16, 2022

Gabrielle "Gabbiee" Swainson  disappeared without a trace from her family home in Columbia, SC on August 18th, 2012 during a 3 to 4 hour period when her mother was at work. Her mother returned home that morning to find Gabbiee's beeping alarm clock, but no sign of her daughter. From the very beginning of the case, there was one lone suspect - 53 year old Freddie Grant, the onetime boyfriend of Gabbiee's mother, who still possessed a key to the family home. Furthermore, how does Gabbiee's disappearance tie into the disappearance of Adriana Diana Laster? Find out. Check out Hollie's masks here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HollsNDolls Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Material: https://www.wistv.com/story/23088103/sheriff-says-they-immediately-suspected-grant-in-gabbiees-kidnapping/ https://stromlaw.com/gabrielle-swainsons-body-found-after-kidnapping-and-murder-suspect-confessed/ https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/attack-on-s-c-teen-carefully-planned/article_00ae7ab2-0314-5f10-89c9-f47de6c4ce26.html https://www.wistv.com/story/23137035/court-documents-reveal-gabbiee-swainson-died-of-asphyxiation/ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141707588/gabrielle-chloe-swainson https://www.wistv.com/story/23137483/freddie-grant-gets-30-years-for-killing-gabbiee-swainson/ https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/freddie-grant-resentenced-10-years-prison-federal-ammunition-charge https://www.waff.com/2021/02/23/south-carolina-police-need-help-huntsville-community-solve-cold-case/ https://charleyproject.org/case/adriana-diana-laster https://www.facebook.com/helpusfindgabbie/photos/?ref=page_internal https://www.facebook.com/Help-Find-Adriana-Laster-367811763295598/photos/?ref=page_internal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxmZ4al1kMQ&ab_channel=ALLin4K https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCiYsqW6DmQ&ab_channel=NickJohnson https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gabrielle-swainson-freddie-grant_n_1847222

He took her from where she felt the safest and used his own daughter to cover his tracks. He's responsible for more people than this. I firmly believe that. 15-year-old Gabrielle Chloe Swainson of Columbia, South Carolina, known as Gabby to her friends and family, was an honor student at Ridgeview High School, where she was described by classmates as a very positive person. The daughter of Elvia Swainson and Alvin Thompson, Gabby was a cheerleader who also enjoyed playing the guitar and tap dancing. She was just days away for beginning her sophomore year when she disappeared without a trace. Gabby vanished from her Northeast Columbia home on August 18, 2012, during a three to four hour period

where her mother was at work. Her mother, Elvia Swainson, returned home that morning to find Gabby's beeping alarm clock, but no sign of her daughter. From the very beginning, authorities had one lone suspect, a 53-year-old man by the name of Freddie Grant, who was the one to boyfriend of Elvia Swainson. Investigators believe that Grant forced Gabby to leave her Tamara Way house and took her to his home in Elgin that morning. There was no sign of forced entry as Grant still possessed a key to the family home. In the early days of the investigation, family members organized searches for Gabby. During one or more of those early searches, Grant actually joined in on the effort to help search for Gabby after Elvia called him to ask for

help. Several people told investigators Grant behaved strangely when he came to the Swainson home. Grant said he found a note from the teen that said she was running away because she was gay, but the handwriting did not match Gabby's. One person said Gabby talked about receiving text messages from Grant saying she was beautiful and he could help her since she, quote, wasn't experienced in the area of sex, end quote. Grant dismissed the messages saying he was trying to send them to the teen's mother and hit the wrong button. Grant was initially arrested on federal ammunition charges eight days after Gabby went missing. Investigators found a box of shotgun shells and a box of 38 caliber bullets in his home while

they were searching for clues in Gabby's disappearance. He was disqualified to possess ammunition due to a prior conviction. Two days after the arrest, deputies also charged Grant with kidnapping. On the day that Gabby disappeared, coworkers told investigators Grant left work early. There were four hours between the time Elvia left for work and Grant showed up at the house. It is believed that Grant kidnapped Gabby, assaulted her and killed her during this time, waiting to dispose of her remains the following day. Reports from the crime lab retraced the harrowing steps of the crime. Blood in Gabby's bed indicated she was likely taken by force.

Cell phone records show Grant was in the teen's home when she was by herself, and the last signal from Gabby's phone came from Grant's house. Gabby's DNA was on cups with alcohol in them in Grant's home, where it was speculated that she was forced to drink. Duck tape founded a junkyard near Grant's home had the impression of a mouth on them and contained DNA from both Gabby and Grant. According to Sheriff Leon Lott, who led the investigation to Gabby's disappearance, quote, we've been in negotiations for some time with Freddie's attorneys. We have stood strong on what our offer was. We made an offer to them and haven't changed from day one.

we had to do a lot of soul searching. It was almost that you're making a deal with the devil, and it was tough, end quote. He went on to state, quote, A point where this case took a very important turn was when Freddie's daughter, Dominique, was arrested. That was, I guess, the breaking point as far as getting Freddie to lead us to where Gabby was at. So I don't want anyone to think that he did this out of his conscience or he felt bad for Gabby or Elvia or this community. He didn't do that. He did it solely because his daughter was arrested and she was figuring,

some very serious jail time. That's what we needed, end quote. The deal came about because Grant ordered his own daughter to try to plant Swainson's cell phone to frame some of the people searching for the teen who looked for her in Myrtle Beach days after she disappeared. Gabby's cell phone was found outside a Myrtle Beach Piggly Wiggly Grocery Store in June 2012 in good condition. A delivery driver found it, charged it, and contacted Gabby's mother. Grant's plan back fired when deputies tracked Grant's own daughter through her cell phone and debit card to the area at the time the phone was found. In July of 2012, Freddie Grant's 27-year-old daughter, Dominique, was charged with accessory after the fact. According to Sheriff Lott, quote, while he could kill

someone else's daughter, he could save his own, end quote. Grant took deputies to an area near the fire department in Elgin, where deputies searched for Gabby's remains. The area was searched when Gabby disappeared last August and the FBI set up a command post there. 357 days after Gabby was reported missing, her remains were discovered buried five feet into the earth. Grant, who had worked as a landscaper, had carefully filled the hole and spread pine straw all around it. Gabby was taken to the Richland County Coroner's Office where it was later determined that she had died from asphyxiation. She was laid to rest at Greenland Memorial Park in Columbia, of South Carolina. As part of the plea agreement, Freddie Grant agreed to plead guilty and accept

concurrent sentences for 30 years on charges of kidnapping and murder with no chance of parole. Prosecutors also agreed to drop the charges against Grant's daughter Dominique as part of the deal. Also part of the deal, Grant would not be able to appeal the state's ruling. In 2014, Freddie Grant was re-sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal ammunition's charges. His release date is scheduled for sometime in August of 2043 with three years of federal supervision. If he even lives that long. Right. According to the judge, quote, this case has affected the community that we live in.

No matter what your socioeconomic status is, I need for Gabby's family to have closure. I need the community to know that we will not tolerate this type of behavior. I can't begin to fathom the torture, the torment, the sleepless nights, the eclos, the uncontrollable crying. I wouldn't wish that on anybody. I've thought about this case and I've struggled with whether or not to accept this negotiation. I was reminded of the words of Christ where he said in Luke that it would be better for a man to have a millstone tied around his neck and thrown into the bottom of the sea than to cause a child to suffer. End quote. While police were searching for Gabby, they were also looking for 18-year-old Adriana Diana Laster of Elgin, who has been missing

since 2011 and was also romantically connected to Freddie Grant. It's been over a decade since she disappeared without a trace. After the initial report of her disappearance, police interviewed neighbors near Grant's residence, where they'd previously responded to domestic violence calls between Grant and Adriana. According to the incident report, one man they interviewed said, quote, I wouldn't be surprised if she's dead somewhere. He probably killed her, end quote. Adriana was last seen on Kelly Street in Elgin, South Carolina on September 3rd, 2011.

She had left Grant and was hiding from him, later staying with a friend. That friend advised Adriana not to go to church on Sunday as she feared Grant would find her. Unfortunately, Adriana has never been heard from again. She was reported missing by a family member in Florida on March 17, 2012, six months after she was last seen. Elgin Police Chief Harold Brown stated that they don't have any evidence of foul play in Adriana's missing persons case, but notes that her disappearance just doesn't add up. Adriana is described as an African-American female with black hair and brown eyes. She has a scar on her chin and has pierced ears. She also goes by the nicknames Drana and Gigi.

As of the date of this recording, Adriana would be 38 years old. The chief is asking anyone who knows anything to call and leave a tip with the Elgin Police Department at Midland. crime stoppers by calling 1-8-88 Crime SC. And we'll have that information in the show notes as well. It should also be noted that Grant was publicly named a person of interest in the murder of Daniel Lee Wood, 36 of the time when he was shot and killed in October 2011. The murder weapon was found at the scene as well as an unknown quantity of crack. Now, since it's been over 10 years later, there hasn't been any progress in this particular case.

but either way, it sounds like Grant will be spending the rest of his life in prison. This case is really sad, and Chaka, our patron, suggested it. So thank you so much Chaka for suggesting it to us. It's really sad because it just shows you can't even be safe in your own home. And this girl had such a bright future ahead of her. It's just tragic. Absolutely. And it makes me wonder just how many people was Grant connected to, as far as murder or

disappearances that the police just kind of overlooked. I mean, we looked really hard for the Daniel Lee Wood connection, because you happened to see it in a Google search, and it was the only article naming him as a public person of interest. Yeah, I almost couldn't find it. I had a tab up, and I accidentally close it, and it took quite a bit of digging to find it again. But there's no information on that. I mean, he worked as a handyman and a landscaper. He probably had access to a lot of people's homes. Yeah, I did see a news bulletin. Now, this was from many years ago. This was before Gabby was found. But it gave you a number to call with Grant's mugshot saying, call this number if this man ever worked as a handyman or a landscaper at your home. I think they were trying to figure out if he was

connected to any other disappearances or murders. Or maybe trying to find Adriana. Because honestly, if he's working as a landscaper, he could have went the whole route as Bruce MacArthur and have been hiding her in a landscaping project. Yes, absolutely. And as of the date of this recording, Adriana still has not been found. It's been over 10 years as well. It's not looking very hopeful. I tried to find some sort of progress in the case and there really hasn't been anything. There hasn't been much. I tried to find more pictures of her. There's only one that's been posted. There's a mugshot. I'm not posting her mugshot. That's just disrespectful. but it's just terrible. Nobody should not know where their family member is for a decade, and nobody should be getting killed by this horrible person. Absolutely. And I'd probably go on a rant about the lack of resources devoted to cases such as these, but it is some small point of consolation that Grant will be spending likely to be, given his age, the rest of his life in prison.

So I guess we're really fortunate that he did cut a deal because I don't know that they would have found Gabby. I don't know if they would have had the resources to do it. They already had searched the area where they had found her once before. I believe that had he not given up the body that we would be sitting here expressing our lack of hope that Gabby would ever be found. I mean, thankfully her body was brought home to her family. I just wish the same could be said for Adriana. Hey, everyone. and if you appreciate this video, the best thing you can do to support us is to watch this video to the end, hit like, hit subscribe.

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