Missing South Carolina woman, Kala Brown, found alive chained inside a container 'like a dog'

A South Carolina woman missing since August was found alive on Thursday (3 November).

Kala Brown was reportedly found in a metal storage container in Woodruff, South Carolina by Spartanburg County Sheriff's deputies searching the area on a tip about a sex crime.

Sheriff Chuck Wright told reporters that the deputies found the 30-year-old woman "chained inside the container like a dog" when she began pounding on the walls of the container. Brown told police she had been held captive for two months, NBC News reported.

"It was pretty emotional, to say the least. When she was found, she was chained like a dog—she had a chain around her neck. It's only by God's grace that we found that little girl alive," Wright told CBS News.

The sheriff told reporters that the property's owner, 45-year-old Todd Kohlhepp, was taken into custody and will be charged with kidnapping. Kohlhepp, a registered sex offender, may face other charges, officials said.

Brown reportedly told authorities there were four bodies possibly buried on the property. According to NBC News, a massive investigation was launch but no bodies have been recovered by nightfall. The ed Spartanburg County Coroner's Office said a search will be resumed in the morning.

Wright said investigators were unsure whether Brown's claims about the bodies are true. "We're trying to make sure we don't have a serial killer on our hands," he said. "It very possibly could be what we have."

Brown told authorities she was fed during her time in captivity. CBS News reported that she is being treated at a medical centre and is in good condition.

NBC affiliate WYFF reported that Brown's boyfriend, 32-year-old Charlie Carver, disappeared around the same time and remains missing. A spokesman for the Sheriff's office said that Carver's vehicle was found on Kohlhepp's property during the search.

The kidnapping case gained national attention when suspicious messages and photos were posted on Carver's Facebook page. The page was later removed. Wright said "It's super possible [Kohlhepp] was doing that to try and get people off his trail, but that's just a thought, I don't know that for sure."

Brown reportedly had dinner with a close friend on 29 August at the couple's apartment outside Anderson, South Carolina. Friends reported receiving text messages from her on 30 August but stopped hearing from her on 31 August. Meanwhile, the last images of Carver are from his workplace, showing him leaving that same evening.