Dead woman's car pulled from river
By TIM GULLA Ledger Staff Writer tim@gaffneyledger.com

Ledger photo / TIM GULLA Verlishia Littlejohn's vehicle was removed from the river and towed to the sheriff's office impound lot where investigators will scour it for evidence.

The churned waters of Broad River released another clue Tuesday into the mystery surrounding a Gaffney woman's disappearance.

On Friday, the river unveiled what became of Verlishia Littlejohn when her body was found at the dam of the Broad River Electric Hydro Plant off Cherokee Falls Road.

On Tuesday afternoon, investigators found her car submerged in about 15 feet of water, approximately 30 feet from the bank, in the Big Bay area just above Gaston Shoals dam, said Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton.

County deputies had spotted what they believed to be a car in the water and Spartanburg County's Dive Team removed it at about 6 p.m. The location was about six miles upstream from where the body was found.

Investigators had been searching the river since Monday in hopes of finding the 2000 Ford Taurus, a piece of evidence that might explain Littlejohn's death.

While they were unsure the car actually was in the river, investigators had hoped to confirm it or at least rule it out.

"The fact the body was in the river, we searched some places where the car may have been driven into the river," Blanton said just a few hours before the car was found.

Tuesday's river search focused upstream from where the body was found, particularly on access points like boat ramps.

The car had visible damage but Blanton said it was attributable to removing the car from the water. The car had come to rest upside down in the river and it had to be dragged out, trunk first, then placed upright. That's why the trunk lid was chewed up and the windshield was cracked.

Littlejohn, 25, had last been seen on Nov. 28.

The Gaffney community rallied around Littlejohn's family as it desperately sought answers about her disappearance. The family's fears were realized over the weekend, when investigators confirmed the body they found in the river was Littlejohn's.

Coroner Dennis Fowler has not yet issued rulings on the cause and manner of Littlejohn's death. He could only say Tuesday the case still was under investigation.