Cold case unit looking for Columbia teen's killer

(Columbia-AP) May 31, 2005 - Richland County deputies are continuing to look for clues more than a year after a 15-year-old girl was

beaten to death and her body burned.

The search for Silene Eaddy's killer has been turned over to the sheriff's office's cold case unit. Investigator Eric Barnes says the case is still solvable, but needs bits of information to push it over the top.

Eaddy, called "Erica" by her family and friends, was wearing a necklace with a charm of a shoe or boot when investigators say someone severely beat her and then set her body on fire. Firefighters responding to a brush fire two days after she was last seen alive in April of 2004 found the teen's body in the woods lying face down. She had been beaten to death.

Eaddy lived in Columbia. A missing person's report filed last year by her family helped investigators identify her. She was last seen leaving her home between 7:00pm and 7:30pm April 15th, 2004.

Investigators hope officers in the cold case unit can add a new perspective to the case.

Posted 7:46am by Bryce Mursch