Abducted and strangled: Carolina 6-year-old Faye Swetlik murdered by neighbour

South Carolina schoolgirl Faye Swetlik went missing last Monday from the front yard of her home. Swetlik's body was eventually found in the woods nearby on Thursday. Neighbour Coty Taylor was also found dead after he was suspected for her murder. The post mortem report concluded that Swetlik had been killed on the day she was abducted and dumped in the forest days after her death. Taylor's cause of death was also confirmed as a suicide.

A conference was held at Trinity Baptist Church, Cayce to announce the findings of the post mortem examination. Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher announced that Swetlik's cause of death was asphyxiation. Cayce Department of Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove confirmed that Taylor was the "sole perpetrator" of the murder. DNA evidence found on Taylor's property linked him to the murder.

During the conference, Fisher did not discuss the condition in which Swetlik's body was discovered or how she was murdered. Fisher only revealed that she died of asphyxiation and that she was not killed where her body was found. During the conference, the cause of Taylor's death was also not discussed.

Later, the press received information that Taylor's cause of death was a self-inflicted neck injury. Snellgrove revealed how they pieced together the events leading to the discovery of Swetlik's body.

After Swetlik went missing, neighbours had been questioned including Taylor. The Daily Mail reported that Taylor had a roommate who claims to have been away during the week. Taylor had reportedly cooperated with the police and allowed them to search his property on Wednesday. It is unknown how the police were unable to find Swetlik's body or evidence linking Taylor to the crime after the search.

On Thursday, the police followed the sanitation trucks which collect trash from the neighbourhood. The police found a dirt-covered ladle and one of Swetlik's boots in the trash belonging to Taylor's home.

Snellgrove called for backup to help search the woods. He found the child's body around 10:30 am local time on Thursday. When they went to arrest Taylor, they found him bleeding out and he died of the self-inflicted wounds shortly.

The reason behind the heinous crime remains unknown.