Woman Killed, Home Set on Fire

SALUDA COUNTY (WLTX) -- Officials are searching for whoever shot and killed a woman, then set her home on fire in the Batesburg-Leesville area.

Saluda County Sheriff Jason Booth says firefighters pulled the victim, 54-year-old Kay Riley, out of a burning mobile home at 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

"Our church is a very simple place of worship, but as the Bible says in Matthew, where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of thee," says "Preacher John" Griffith, Riley's minister.

No one is keeping more faith in that promise than Griffith and his congregation, as they deal with the loss of one of their own. "I'm going to miss her because her radiant face was there every sunday. She was such a wonderful Christian lady," he says.

As friends and family gather at her house to remember Riley, deputies search for answers to questions behind her death just a quarter mile down the road. "We don't have a lot of violent crimes here in Saluda County and I'm very proud of that. But we're gonna track down every lead possible and we're taking this case very seriously," says Booth.

Investigators say a worker found Riley's body in her office after he saw flames and went in to get her out. When he went inside he discovered she'd been shot and called 911. "We suspect there may be robbery involved," says Booth, "It's kind of a bizarre case."

It's those suspicions that Friffith and others in the community hope will be solved soon. "We are like a little family there, so we are going to greatly miss Kay," he says, "I'm around a lot of death. When a husband dies - what will it be like for the wife when there's an empty chair at the table, there's an empty place in the bedroom. It's a tremendous adjustment."

Even though the answers will never take away the pain. "It's a sad time, but for the Christian who dies, it's a time of celebration; because we know they're going home to be with God," says Griffith.

He says there appeared to be several fires set at the mobile home, which was where the woman worked.

Booth says robbery appears to be the motive, but that is under investigation.

There are no suspects in the crime yet.

Anyone with information should call Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIMES-SC.