On June 10, 2006, the life of a family from West Columbia, South Carolina, was irrevocably altered. Portia Sumter Washington, a 53-year-old woman, vanished from her home at the Park Place Apartments on Comanchee Trail. She was not alone; her beloved 7-year-old granddaughter, Angelica Cassandra Livingston, disappeared with her. They were last seen in the company of Portia's live-in boyfriend, Kenneth Andrew Lynch.
The disappearance of Portia, described as a dependable, church-going woman devoted to her granddaughter, immediately raised alarms among her relatives when they were unable to contact her for several days. The three of them, along with Portia's tan 2005 Ford Focus, were all reported missing.
The investigation into their disappearance quickly focused on Kenneth Lynch. Several days after Portia and Angelica were last seen, Lynch was pulled over for speeding in El Paso, Texas, driving Portia's car; he was alone at the time. In August of 2006, he was apprehended in Seattle, Washington, as he attempted to board a bus to Canada. Portia's vehicle was discovered parked nearby with the license plate removed. Though he claimed Portia had given him the car, family members stated she had never even permitted him to drive it before her disappearance. Lynch refused to cooperate with authorities regarding the whereabouts of Portia and her granddaughter. The investigation took a grim turn when police declared their apartment a crime scene, having found Angelica's blood, some of it mixed with Lynch's, on the carpet.
Despite the absence of their bodies, the evidence gathered by investigators painted a dark picture of what had transpired. Relatives described Lynch as abusive and recalled Portia telling them he had made her life a "hellhole." In June 2008, two years after Portia and Angelica vanished, Lynch was charged with both of their murders. He was convicted of the murders in the spring of 2012. The overview of this case is one of a loving grandmother and her young granddaughter who are presumed to be victims of a tragic act of violence. Although a conviction was secured against the man responsible for their disappearance, the final piece of closure for their family remains elusive, as the bodies of Portia Washington and Angelica Livingston have never been found.Last Seen: Jun 10, 2006
