Divers seeking murder weapon

By TARA JENNINGSLedger Staff Writer

Scuba divers from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources searched Monday and Tuesday for the gun used in a Gaffney murder last week, but were unsuccessful.

The divers searched an area near a bridge spanning Lake Hartwell in Anderson County.

Police thought they might find the weapon used to shoot 43-year-old Pamela Ownby of 1460 Wilkinsville Highway, Gaffney, three times. Ownby also was stabbed multiple times.

Lt. Detective David Clary of the Gaffney Police Department has charged Ownby’s live-in boyfriend with murder after he allegedly admitted killing Ownby. Mark Vasco Pearson, 40, of Royston, Ga., remains in the Cherokee County Detention Center.

Ownby, a manager of the Murphy USA gas station located in front of Wal-Mart on Floyd Baker Boulevard, was found by coworker Adam Childers at 6:10 a.m. inside a bathroom at the station. Ownby had arrived to open the store about 5:30 a.m.

Pearson surrendered to Franklin County, Ga., authorities later that same day.

Authorities are calling the murder a case of domestic violence.