Refrigerated Trailer for Rent in Orangeburg, SC

The Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities (DPU) said it needed to look toward the future and what's best for locals.

ORANGEBURG, S.C. — After nearly 100 years, Orangeburg's Department of Public Utilities (DPU) is changing their supplier from Dominion to Duke Energy.

According to the city of Orangeburg, since 1927 about 75,000 utility customers have received their power from Dominion Energy. Now the department explains that's changed to Duke Energy.

According to the DPU, it has agreed to a 15-year contract worth about $818M beginning January 1, 2024.

"We have a responsibility to our customers to make sure that we provide the very best rates that we can. And not only the rate part of it, but we also look forward to the delivery of the electricity," said Randy Etters, Orangeburg DPU business development coordinator.

Etters explains that the department needed to look toward the future and what's best for locals.

"We were working with another supplier. That deal fell through at the last minute, and so we had to basically pick up the ball and start the process over again, so it went well beyond our target date and we got signatures on the contract in December and our power literally was going to be changed on December 31st," Etters said.

Etters added that the initial goal date to have a supplier buttoned up was June 2023. But he explains the department found technical issues with the initial supplier, so they started negotiating with Duke Energy, the next best option.

As of now, Etters tells News 19 it's too soon to say if rates will change. He explains they may go up and down a little, but that DPU doesn't anticipate a rate increase.

Residents News 19 spoke with explain they either had no idea about the change from Dominion to Duke Energy, they have no issue with the change, or they have questions about what this means for rates.

"I am very curious, as everyone else, as to their rates," Desiree Englehart, Orangeburg resident said.

"I've never heard that DPU was planning to work with a different company. That's what was most concerning," Hilary Watkins, Orangeburg resident said.

Out of eight perspective providers, DPU tells News 19 Duke Energy was who they were most confident in.

“Our DPU team conducted an extensive search for a new provider as our contract with Dominion was coming to an end,” said Mayor Michael Butler. “Our main criteria included finding a provider that prioritizes safety, reliability, fair pricing, and sustainable energy. I'm pleased to say that Mr. Harley and his team have successfully fulfilled our instructions. We welcome Duke Energy to Orangeburg. We are excited to enter into this partnership.”

"Duke Energy is happy to be serving Orangeburg today and looks forward to powering the city for years to come," said Ryan Mosier, company spokesman from Duke Energy.

The city of Orangeburg tells News 19 it is planning a more formal press conference about this on January 9, 2024 at 11 a.m. ET with Duke Energy representatives and town leaders.

HOLLY HILL, S.C. – (WIS) As the family of an Orangeburg County woman, who went missing four months ago, seeks answers, the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office is releasing new information about the case.

The Sheriff’s Office said Friday in a statement that it put out a public call for leads this week after an “unconfirmed report of a possible sighting.”

Melissa Aguilar of Holly Hill was reported missing by an ex-boyfriend on August 18, a Sheriff’s Office report states.

Investigators believe she left a home Fourwind Road, which is an unincorporated area of Orangeburg County, after an argument with her ex.

Aguilar’s youngest daughter Shanna Brown told WIS in a Friday interview that the last four months have been excruciatingly painful.

Brown said she used to speak with her mother every day, and the fear of the unknown has caused her so much “anger, heartache, and worry.”

“It’s been really hard trying to juggle a job and put on a smile and act like nothing’s wrong when there’s so much wrong,” she said.

Brown described her last conversation with her mother on August 17, the night before she was reported missing.

During that phone call, Aguilar sounded upbeat and happy, Brown said.

Aguilar was excited about her oldest daughter’s upcoming wedding in September, and the pair discussed Brown’s future wedding plans as well, Brown added.

Immediately following her disappearance, the Sheriff’s Office shared the information with the local newspaper, but did not put out a public release through its official channels, nor send the information to other news outlets like WIS.

On Friday, the Sheriff’s Office provided written answers to some questions, but an investigator familiar with the case was not made available for an on-camera interview.

The department did not provide any specifics about who reported the “unconfirmed report of a possible sighting,” when this happened and where.

Family members, however, say they fear Aguilar is gone.

“She would’ve come back by now, or at least called somebody,” Brown said.

Sarah Shipman, Aguilar’s sister, agrees, and said she does not believe that her sibling would vanish without her belongings, and miss important family events.

There was a law enforcement presence at Aguilar’s last known location, the place she was staying with her ex-boyfriend on Fourwind Road, throughout the morning on Friday.

The Sheriff’s Office said they could not explain why so they do not “jeopardize the case.”

“I wish that they would’ve done a lot more than what they did in the beginning,” Brown said.

Brown implored the community to come forward with information, regardless of how inconsequential it may seem.

“If they see anything, they think they see anything, if they hear anything, that we just want to know, we just want to get an idea, a lead, anything so we could bring her home, alive or not,” she said.

Neighbors tell WIS that their statements were taken for the first time on Friday.

The Sheriff’s Office declined to answer questions about whether there is a suspect or person of interest in the case, saying they “cannot comment on particulars of an investigation.”

The public is asked to contact the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office with tips, leads or information.

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“I am deeply disturbed by the deplorable conditions in which we found the victims involved in these heinous crimes against humanity,” said Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Chief Charles Austin, Sr. “I commend Sergeant Deloris Edmunds and the team that worked with her to investigate and uncover the atrocities that were committed against some of our vulnerable citizens whose families entrusted the personal care of their loved ones to the suspects and their trust was betrayed.”

ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WACH) — Investigators with the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety (ODPS) say five vulnerable adults ranging in age from 52 to 99 were in imminent danger when they were found in heavily soiled undergarments in the back of a Broughton Street barbershop.

During the December 27 investigation, officials say they were told that a man inside a closet room area ate himself to death and passed away on Christmas Eve, according to the incident report.

ODPS officials say bond was set a $30,000 for 40-year-old Shaneima Montgomery of Saint George on January 5 in connection to the crimes.

The Lemon Drive woman was arrested on January 4 and is charged with five counts of neglect and financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

Montgomery was allegedly receiving varying payment amounts for the victims' care at the Broughton Street and a location on Lovell Street.

According to an incident report, Montgomery is the owner of Blue Ink Sign Inc (487 Broughton Street) and is registered with the South Carolina Secretary of State as a nonprofit.

The use of the business is listed as administrative management and general management consulting services.

ODPS investigators were conducting a follow up from December 19 when they say the victims were found.

At the time of the initial visit, investigators say they saw a customer get a haircut and a Business and Professional License to Jerry's Professional Barber (967 Russell St., 29115) on the wall.

According to the incident report the victims were identified as a 99-year-old Black female, a 52-year-old Black female, an 80-year-old white male, 63-year-old white male, 73-year-old white male.

The door of one of the victims was locked from the outside preventing them to leave the room and a box of used needles were found on the floor of another victim.

The incident reports also states:

These are just some of the reasons this building is deemed unsafe for the vulnerable adults; however, there are many more, the incident report states.

All the victims were taken to MUSC Health Orangeburg for treatment.

The Orangeburg Department of Public Safety is still investigating the case.

Lucille R. Rivas, 61, of Whitman Street, Orangeburg, is facing six counts of neglect of a vulnerable adult.

Shaneima Arnise Montgomery, 40, of Bowman and St. George, was also charged with six counts of neglect of a vulnerable adult earlier this month.

Six adults were taken into emergency protective custody on Dec. 27, according to an Orangeburg Department of Public Safety incident report.

The adults include a 52-year-old woman, a 54-year-old woman, a 63-year-old man, a 73-year-old man, an 80-year-old man and a 99-year-old woman.

The residents were taken to MUSC Health-Orangeburg to get checked out. They are now under the care of the S.C. Department of Social Services.

The vulnerable adults were allegedly staying at 487 Broughton Street. A business license for a Russell Street barbershop was displayed at the building, the report said.

An investigator wrote in her report that some of the vulnerable adults living there were using supplemental oxygen.

The investigator noted there were two bathrooms consisting of only a toilet and sink, but there were no places to bathe or shower.

The investigator also reported that the building didn’t have a kitchen, but did have refrigerator, microwave and a residential stove.

Frozen meals were in the freezer.

The rooms where the adults were living had keyed entries, allowing the adults to be locked in their rooms, the report claims.

One adult was allegedly housed in a storage-type of room. Feces was on the bedding of the person housed in this room, the report claims.

The building had a “very strong odor of urine scent and several of the victims were in heavily soiled undergarments,” the report states.

In addition, ODPS claims the building was not licensed by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control as a residential care facility. ODPS says the building is in an area zoned for commercial use.

The building also allegedly didn’t have handrails to support adults with mobility concerns.

Warrants claim Rivas was an employee of Carolina Southern Living and a caretaker to the six adults. Carolina Southern Living is registered to Montgomery, according to the S.C. Secretary of State’s Office

Additional ODPS reports claim that each of the vulnerable adults was transferred from a Lovell Street home to the Broughton Street office building on Dec. 9, 2023.

According to Orangeburg County court records, the Lovell Street landlord filed a civil claim against Montgomery in December 2023. The complaint claims Montgomery began defaulting on rent in July 2023 and the months that followed.

Montgomery began making reduced rent payments of $2,500 a month, the complaint says.

The landlord is seeking $10,000 from Montgomery.

ODPS’s case remains under investigation.

If Montgomery and Rivas are convicted, they each face up to five years in prison for each count of neglect of a vulnerable adult.