A South Carolina man kept four adults captive in his basement for years while stealing from them, according to police.
Donnie Ray Birchfield, Jr., 35, faces more than a dozen felony charges, including false imprisonment and neglect of a vulnerable adult, WSOC-9 reported. Police began investigating after a woman died in the basement. That death was not reported until the next day, the station reported.
"That's a sick individual right there. He's a sick person to do something like that," neighbor Darryl Evans told WSOC-9.
The Post and Courier reported that the four people included two women Birchfield Jr. had been in a relationship with. One since 2015, and the other since 2024. The other two people were a couple Birchfield was the sole caregiver for, although the newspaper reported that it was unclear how Birchfield Jr. knew the couple.
A warrant quoted by the newspaper stated that the person who died was the woman of the couple. The couple was described as being vulnerable adults.
The newspaper reported that Birchfield Jr. controlled his victims through physical abuse, threats, denying them food, and controlling their communication with the outside world.
According to the court documents quoted by the newspaper, Birchfield controlled when they were allowed out of the basement and when they could go to the bathroom. The physical abuse included strangulation.
"We are still investigating, and there could be more charges coming," Erin Tindal, Lancaster Police Department spokesperson, told the Post and Courier.
The court documents also detail some financial crimes allegedly committed by Birchfield including, $2,000 worth of online purchases for himself and $11,800 drained from the couple's bank account that was used to pay off credit cards, the newspaper reported.
