Faye Swetlik's Murderer Killed Himself — and Police Interviewed Him Day Before Bodies Were Found
The 30-year-old neighbor who abducted and killed South Carolina girl Faye Swetlik killed himself, and was found dead moments after police discovered Faye’s body on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Lexington County officials announced that Faye, 6, who went missing on Feb. 10, had been strangled by Taylor hours after he abducted her from the front yard of her Cayce home.
Although both Faye’s and Taylor’s bodies were found near one another Thursday morning, Faye had been dead for days while Taylor died that morning from a self-inflicted, incised wound to the neck, the Lexington County Coroner tells PEOPLE.
According to Cayce Director of Public Safety Byron Snelgrove, police had talked to Taylor the day before in connection with the investigation. Snelgrove said he was “cooperative” and gave consent to authorities to search his house. Authorities did not believe at the time he was involved in Faye’s disappearance.
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Snelgrove said law enforcement got its first break in the investigation when they searched garbage cans on Thursday and discovered a polka-dot boot and a soup ladle with dirt on it in the garbage can belonging to Taylor’s address. In Faye’s missing person’s bulletin, she was described as wearing polka-dot boots.
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Officials have yet to announce a motive. Snelgrove said Taylor didn’t leave a message or note of any kind.
Faye, a first grader at Springdale Elementary School, went missing from her family’s front yard after school on Monday.
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The expenses for Faye’s funeral will be covered by the Caughman-Harman Funeral Home in Lexington, a person answering the phone at the home told PEOPLE.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Snelgrove said, “Faye Swetlik quickly grabbed all of our hearts. This case became and will always remain very personal for us. Faye will never be forgotten.”
