An 18-year-old from the small South Carolina city of Laurens has been found dead after disappearing while on a date with someone they met online, police have said.

Kierstyn Williamson, who friends have said was transitioning to be a man and was known as Jacob, was last seen by family members on the evening of June 30. Eddie Cathey, Union County sheriff, said that what they believe to be Williamson's body had been located late in the afternoon on July 4.

The sheriff's office in Monroe County, North Carolina, said that following an "extensive" investigation with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, two suspects—Joshua Newton, 25, and Victoria Smith, 22—have been taken into custody in connection with the killing.

Newton has been charged with first degree murder and obstruction of justice, while Smith has been charged with obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact.

"My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim in this case as they begin to mourn this unimaginable loss," Cathey said in a statement on Wednesday.

The case is now being considered a homicide investigation, which the force said is ongoing, and urged anyone with information to get in touch. It is unclear why Williamson was killed.

Union County Lieutenant James Maye told Newsweek that its "extensive" investigation "has not produced any evidence that would support this homicide being considered a hate crime."

He added: "While the motive is still being determined, it does not appear that Williamson was specifically targeted because of [their] gender identity."

Union County Sheriff's Office said that Williamson had first been reported missing by family to authorities in Laurens and was thought to have gone to a residence on Bethpage Lane in Monroe, North Carolina, a rural area to the south-east of Charlotte.

According to Fox Carolina, citing the sheriff's office, a family member told deputies that Williamson had agreed to meet Newton on Facebook, arranging to be picked up by Newton at a Waffle House before going to Carowinds, an amusement park that straddles the state border.

It reported the person said Williamson had remained in contact after leaving home, but stopped responding after 11:40 p.m. ET on June 30.

"I think they had planned on meeting up and spend some time together on a date and that's where [Williamson] met him. That was the plan," Maye told Charlotte, North Carolina-based news channel WSOC. "Unfortunately [it] ended in the loss of [Williamson's] life."

Another Charlotte-based channel, WBTV, reported Williamson's body had been found in Pageland, South Carolina—just south of the state border and on route 601 from Monroe—between 7-10 miles from where investigators believe Williamson was killed. Maye confirmed these facts to Newsweek.

Promise Edwards, a long-term family friend, told WBTV that she had said goodbye to Williamson that night. "The last thing I told him is that I love you, see you in the morning," she recalled.

Edwards said Williamson had been living with her for about a month and a half after some members of Williamson's family struggled to accept their decision to transition to be a man.

"Supposed to be celebrating my birthday today but instead I'm laying here numb staring at the ceiling wondering why," Edwards wrote in a Facebook post on Friday morning. "I do anything to have one more second with you.

"I keep saying that I'll never understand but that's because there is absolutely no way anyone could ever make me understand. You deserved more than what this cruel world gave you."

Newsweek approached Edwards via direct message for further comment on Friday.

Williamson's killing is not the first instance of a transgender person being killed in a seemingly unprovoked attack. In February, Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old transgender girl and trans advocate, was stabbed to death in a park in Cheshire in the U.K.

Two 15-year-olds were later charged with Ghey's murder, and police were investigating whether the attack may have been a hate crime.

Update 07/07/23, 11:42 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from Lieutenant James Maye, spokesperson for Union County Sheriff's Office.

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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