Human remains have been identified after almost five decades, revealing the victim of the infamous serial killer, Samuel Little. The Berkley County Jane Doe found in South Carolina in 1977 has been confirmed to be Leola Etta Bryant, a 51-year-old woman who went missing in March 1974. Bryant was last seen at the Midway Bar on Reynold’s Avenue, where Little later admitted to meeting her before her tragic demise.
In October 1977, workers discovered partial skeletal remains by a creek in Goose Creek, near Charleston. The Berkeley County Coroner collected the remains and after extensive forensic analysis, it was determined that the victim was likely an African American woman aged between 30 and 60 and standing between 5 foot 4 inches to 5 foot 6 inches tall.
Efforts to identify the victim led to the release of a forensic sketch to the public in the hopes of generating new leads. It was during this investigation that it was revealed Bryant fell victim to the notorious killer Samuel Little, who confessed to strangling her after encountering her at a nightclub in North Charleston. Little, who passed away in prison in 2020, admitted to a chilling list of 93 murders across multiple states between 1970 and 2005.
The FBI has verified at least 60 of Little’s confessions, and investigations continue to confirm the others. Little’s modus operandi mainly targeted women, often drug addicts or sex workers, whom he would meet sporadically before taking their lives. Despite his conviction for a triple murder in California in 2014, it was while incarcerated that Little began disclosing his atrocities to authorities, offering intricate details about his heinous crimes.
The identification of Leola Etta Bryant brings closure to a case that had remained unresolved for almost half a century, shedding light on the dark history of one of America’s most prolific serial killers.