LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. (WJZY) – A South Carolina man has been accused of holding four “vulnerable adults” captive in his basement, including one who claims she had been there against her will since 2015.
Donnie Birchfield Jr.’s charges range from financial crimes and neglect to domestic violence and false imprisonment. A neighbor who spoke with Nexstar’s WJZY said she couldn’t believe what the 35-year-old has been accused of.
“This is a quiet area. This is a quiet neighborhood. And I was shocked to have anything happen,” Christy Barnes, a resident of Lancaster County, said.
“Just to think that this was going on right around the corner from our house, right around the corner from the park,” she added.
In July, Lancaster police investigating a death in Lancaster said they discovered four people being held against their will in Birchfield’s family basement. Officers arrested him in August on 16 charges, including financial identity fraud, false imprisonment, aggravated domestic violence, and four counts of abuse of a vulnerable adult.
Warrants indicated that Birchfield Jr. used the victims’ bank information and credit cards for his own financial gain. Other documents allege Birchfield was in a romantic relationship with one of the female victims — who claimed she was held against her will since November 2015.
Investigators said Birchfield prevented victims from going to the bathroom without his permission, wouldn’t feed them, and prevented them from contacting loved ones. He’s also accused of choking one victim for so long that she lost consciousness.
Then someone in the home died, and officers say it wasn’t reported until the following day.
Officials say more charges may be pending.
Barnes has been a neighbor of the Birchfields for more than 10 years. She says she never interacted much with the father and sons, but called the mother and daughter nice 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 said.
“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,” Barnes added.
Lancaster police are still investigating. The local coroner’s office is still working to determine a cause of death.
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