An evening trip for a bite to eat turned into a tragedy for 18-year-old Dana Marie Woods and her friend, 22-year-old June Guerry, on August 26, 2012, in Moncks Corner, South Carolina. Woods, a student at Trident Technical College with aspirations of becoming a paralegal, and Guerry, a young mother working at Walmart, had gone to a local Burger King drive-thru.
The last contact anyone had with them was a phone call Woods made to her mother, mentioning she and Guerry were about to give someone a ride. When the two women failed to return home, their families reported them missing, sparking a search.
Several days later, investigators made a grim discovery in the Francis Marion National Forest. Woods' burned-out car was located off Cane Gully Road, and her body was found about 75 yards away. She had been shot execution-style in the back of the head. The search continued for Guerry, whose body was found approximately 10 miles away in a watery dirt pit near Walleye Road. She had also been killed by a gunshot to the back of her head.
The investigation quickly led to two suspects, 23-year-old cousins Caleb Brad Matlock and Arthur Ray Chavis, who were known to be friends with the victims. One of the cousins had been seen driving Woods' car in the Highway 402 area, and cell phone records and surveillance footage further implicated them. Upon his arrest on September 1, 2012, Matlock was in possession of the murder weapon. Chavis confessed to being present, claiming he believed the plan was to rob the women and steal the car for a series of other robberies, but that he was unaware Matlock intended to kill them.
In August 2014, Caleb Matlock pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, armed robbery, and third-degree arson. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison. Arthur Ray Chavis also reached a plea agreement in April 2015 and received a 25-year prison sentence for his role in the deaths of Dana Woods and June Guerry.
