Investigators search what’s believed to be the father of missing 5-year-old’s home, neighbors speak

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - New details in the case of missing 5-year-old Aspen Jeter, who hasn’t been seen since her mother, Crystal Jumper’s, body was discovered in Orangeburg County on Thanksgiving day.

The sheriff’s department says her father, Antar Jeter, was living with Jumper in her home where she was found dead.

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A tip from a viewer today led us to what neighbor’s say is Antar Jeter’s home on Hulon Lane in West Columbia near the Lexington Medical Center.

Thursday, we followed up on those tips and spoke to neighbors who say Jeter was a good father but was facing hard times.

Ring door footage shows one of the last times that Antar Jeter was seen at this home on Hulon Lane.

According to the neighbor, he was asking if he could borrow money. In the video you see Jeter accept the money and then turn around to leave before a neighbor asks him if he wants groceries.

Jeter tells the neighbor that he’ll be back but that neighbor who does not want to be identified at this time says he never saw him again. WIS spoke with other neighbors who describeD Jeter as a good father.

“He has always been 100 percent about his daughter. He spent all of his time taking care of her and loving her taking her out for rides in the neighborhood,” one neighbor told WIS while standing outside of the home.

Neighbors also say that Jeter fell on hard times after losing his job while taking care of Aspen. They said because of her disability, Jeter would often miss work while caring for her.

A neighbor who lived next door to Jeter says, “He was like talking about how he was afraid he was going to lose his spot, his home, because he couldn’t pay the rent anymore, his car was gone and if he had to go to the grocery store we would take him if he asked us if he needed money for gas it was no big deal because we saw him struggling.”

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I showed neighbors pictures of Crystal Jumper’s car which investigators are currently looking for and they tell me that same car was parked outside Jeter’s home for months and say one of the last times they saw him, he was driving that same car. That was at the beginning of November. On Thanksgiving day, deputies would find Jumper dead and her car missing. They tell me the two had a rocky relationship.

A neighbor says, “She used to live here with him years ago. I know that they split up she moved out and she moved back now we know to Orangeburg, but from my understanding she spent a few nights with him here a few weeks ago in October and she was you know here and there, but mainly it was just him and his daughter.”

But one neighbor tells me she’s frustrated with investigators in Orangeburg County.

She says, “I’ve been trying to contact investigators through the varies means of crime stoppers, calling them. I finally had to send emails for them to get in touch with us to let them know that he doesn’t live in Orangeburg he lives here they both live here.”

Neighbors say they’ve actually tried calling Jeter’s phone, but he has not answered.

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Our team has put together a timeline of events since this case was made public.

November first was the last time Jumper was seen alive.

November 24th during a welfare check, deputies discovered Jumper’s body inside of the home and deemed Aspen missing.

The following day the public was asked to help locate Aspen.

On November 28th an incident report revealed that jumper and Jeter were living together and did not get along, and that she had been shot.

On November 30th officials identified Antar Jeter as the one believed to be with Aspen.

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