Police arrested a man accused of holding four people captive, one of whom died in the basement of his home in Lancaster, South Carolina.
Since his Aug. 1 arrest, Donnie Ray Birchfield Jr. was hit with several charges, including abuse of a vulnerable adult, false imprisonment, and domestic violence, according to The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina.
Birchfield, 35, is currently jailed at the Lancaster County Detention Center. His bond was set at $150,000, according to an Inmate Search document.
“We are still investigating, and there could be more charges coming,” Lancaster Police Department spokeswoman Erin Tindal said.
Police began investigating Birchfield on July 25, when they received a call about an “unattended death” at his home, The Post and Courier reported Monday.
Reports didn’t specify who made the call.
Police discovered that a woman had died one day prior to their arrival after being locked inside Birchfield’s basement, where he allegedly imprisoned three other captives.
In total, those captives included two women he knew romantically, and two “vulnerable adults” who were married.
Birchfield was the sole caregiver of the disabled husband and wife (the woman who died).
He would physically abuse his captives while denying them sustenance and medical attention, police alleged.
They could only leave the basement as Birchfield allowed.
⚠️ WARNING: This post contains graphic descriptions of false imprisonment & long-term abuse.
A South Carolina man has been arrested for allegedly keeping four people captive in his basement for up to 10 years, controlling their access to food, the bathroom, & their finances.… pic.twitter.com/x0GZeKejFo
— True Crime Updates (@TrueCrimeUpdat) September 21, 2025
“That’s a sick individual right there. He’s a sick person to do something like that,” his neighbor Darryl Evans said, according to WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina.
While it is unclear how long Birchfield allegedly held each prisoner captive, one of his girlfriends reportedly “lived with him” since 2015, while the other lived with him since September 2024, according to The Post and Courier.
He also reportedly stole from his victims.
Since 2021, he allegedly spent $2,000 of their money on Walmart purchases.
He also allegedly spent nearly $12,000 of the couple’s savings to pay his credit card bills, according to The Post and Courier.
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