In the winter of 2018, the life of 20-year-old Colee Alora Muirhead was tragically cut short in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A former standout golfer at both St. James and Socastee high schools, she was a young mother remembered by her family as a kind-hearted individual who deeply loved her family and friends.
On the morning of January 22, 2018, police were called to the Beachcomber Ocean Front Inn on South Ocean Boulevard. Inside one of the rooms, they discovered Muirhead's body.
An autopsy would later confirm she had died from a single gunshot wound to the head, fired from a distance of about 18 inches. The initial investigation quickly pointed to a suspect: 19-year-old Chandler Ari Dunmeyer, a U.S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Within days, Dunmeyer was arrested and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. According to prosecutors, Dunmeyer and Muirhead were involved in prostitution, and a disagreement between them led to the fatal shooting. It was reported that Dunmeyer confessed to the killing to investigators. Following his arrest, he was initially held in custody, but was later granted a $50,000 bond. One of the conditions of his release was that he would be in the custody of the military at Fort Bragg. However, this was later modified to allow him to live with relatives in Dorchester County. During this time, neighbors reported seeing him wandering aimlessly through the neighborhood.
The legal proceedings against Dunmeyer came to an abrupt and unexpected end on August 5, 2018. While out on bond at his mother's home in the Summerville area, Chandler Dunmeyer died by suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death closed the criminal case, leaving Colee Muirhead's family and friends to grapple with the loss of a young life and the unforeseen conclusion to the pursuit of justice.
