Lancaster County (South Carolina) – A South Carolina man has been accused of holding four “vulnerable adults” captive in his basement, one of whom claims to have been there against her will since 2015.
Donnie Birchfield Jr. faces charges ranging from financial crimes and neglect to domestic violence and false imprisonment. A neighbor told Nexstar’s WJZY that she couldn’t believe what the 35-year-old had been accused of.
“This is a quiet place. This is a quiet neighbourhood. Christy Barnes, a Lancaster County resident, said she was shocked by what happened.
“Just to think that this was going on right around the corner from our house, right around the corner from the park,” she told me.
In July, Lancaster police investigating a death reported finding four people held against their will in Birchfield’s family basement. In August, officers arrested him on 16 charges, including financial identity fraud, false imprisonment, aggravated domestic violence, and four counts of abuse of a vulnerable adult.
According to the warrants, Birchfield Jr. used the victims’ bank account information and credit cards for financial gain. Other documents allege Birchfield had a romantic relationship with one of the female victims, who claimed she had been held against her will since November 2015.
According to investigators, Birchfield forbade victims from using the bathroom without his permission, refused to feed them, and prevented them from contacting loved ones. He is also accused of choking a victim for so long that she lost consciousness.
Then someone died in the house, and police say it wasn’t reported until the next day.
According to officials, additional charges may be pending.
Barnes has been a Birchfields neighbor for over a decade. She claims she never interacted much with the father and sons, but described the mother and daughter as pleasant people.
“There are a lot of different things that, that have gone on that now, you know, while they may not be directly related, they do tend to make a little more sense,” she told me.
“Feeling that human aspect of it, I feel I feel terrible for all the families involved, individuals involved in the things that everybody’s going through,” says Barnes.
Lancaster Police are still investigating. The local coroner’s office is still investigating to determine the cause of death.
