The Voice of Blythewood & Fairfield County

FBI, SLED, USPS join hate mail probe

WINNSBORO – As the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office continues to look into the source of a hate letter that was mailed to several residents in the Dawkins community earlier this month, Sheriff Will Montgomery updated The Voice on the investigation Tuesday morning.

“The FBI, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the United States Postal Service are all involved in the investigation and met with us Monday, Feb. 25 to discuss some things and we talked again on Monday, March 1,” Montgomery said.

Investigators have reportedly questioned several people in the Dawkins community who received the letters and others.

“SLED processed the letters for possible DNA and fingerprints.” Montgomery said. “They came up with 30 fingerprints and 100 samples of DNA. Of the 30 fingerprints, many of them were from Sheriff’s deputies and from those who received the letters in the mail. But a number of them were from unknown persons and SLED is looking at those for a match. They’re checking for matches and will get back to us with any results,” he said. “The investigators are taking this very seriously and are thoroughly investigating this crime.”

Anyone with information about the mailing, call 803-635-4141 or 803-635-5511. A reward of $2,000 has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who sent the letters. The identity of the person providing the information will be kept anonymous.