Former police officer William Spivey is accused of embezzlement of state assets, destruction of evidence and opium trafficking, among other charges.
Photo: Columbus County Sheriff’s Office/Courtesy
A former police chief in North Carolina who staged his suicide to avoid prosecution on nearly 90 criminal charges including theft of weapons, drugs, and cash from an evidence room was found hidden in a cave or cove.
William Spivey, 36, he was free on bail when he tried to deceive the authorities he previously belonged to in Chadbourn.
The suspect, who led the Chadbourn Police Department, was captured Thursday near Loris, South Carolina, four days after he failed to return from a fishing trip to the Lumber River and was reported missing.
Authorities found an abandoned boat in the river and a suicide note that the man falsely wrote.
An unloaded .22 caliber rifle was located inside the boat.
“Investigators quickly concluded that the evidence collected did not support a suicide scenario,” the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office said.
Spivey, who is accused of embezzlement of state assets, destruction of evidence and opium trafficking, among other charges, was supposed to attend a court hearing in the case this week.
The Horry County Police Department received a tip indicating that Spivey was hiding out at an aunt’s apartment outside of Loris.
When officers arrived on scene, the defendant fled into the woods, where he was eventually found in a cave around 1 am yesterday.
Source-eldiariony.com