“We would ask for the person who has done this to come forward and be brave about it,” a grieving aunt said.A still, predawn hour in Spartanburg County in South Carolina was shattered by a grim discovery in a shopping center parking lot, launching a multi-agency investigation and leaving a young family grappling with sudden loss.Deputies arriving at the scene found a woman dead under circumstances authorities say point to a violent hit-and-run, one that investigators believe unfolded quietly and ended just as abruptly, with the driver vanishing into the darkness.

According to the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called at about 3:20 a.m. Wednesday, January 7, 2026, about a body found in a shopping center parking lot.The shopping center was located at 369 Whitney Road in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. The Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office later said the woman was pronounced dead at 3:35 a.m.The victim was identified as Dané Josephine Waddell, a 31-year-old Spartanburg resident and new mother, according to the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office.Authorities said evidence from the scene indicates Waddell was struck, run over, and dragged by a vehicle whose driver fled without stopping. “We have evidence that she was run over and dragged by a vehicle,” Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said in an email.