Body of man who went missing after ‘getting in car with girlfriend’ found in shallow grave as she’s charged

THE BODY of a 28-year-old man who went missing after ‘getting in car with girlfriend’ was found in a shallow grave as she’s taken into custody.

Police deemed the victim’s girlfriend a “prime suspect” as they search for another person who may be connected to the murder.

FacebookDevantae Griffin’s body was found in a shallow grave after he went missing on March 30[/caption]

FacebookGriffin was last seen with his girlfriend Jessica Strachan (pictured) who was arrested and deemed a person of interest[/caption]

Spartanburg County Sheriff’s OfficeTarus Dorail Crook of Spartanburg (pictured) has also been identified as a person of interest in Devantae Griffin’s death[/caption]

“We have a murder,” Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright told WYFF. “This is not just a missing person anymore.”

South Carolina officials said they identified Devantae Griffin’s remains after discovering the body on Tuesday.

Officials ruled the death a homicide upon finding the body.

“He didn’t deserve this,” Devantae Griffin’s mother Felicia Griffin told WYFF.

“He would not hurt anybody. He would give you the shirt off his back. He would not hurt anybody, and for somebody to do this to him, it just makes me angry.”

Jessica Strachan, Griffin’s on-and-off-again girlfriend, was identified as a person of interest and taken into custody after Griffin was last seen “getting in the car” with Strachan.

Strachan had previously been arrested for giving police false information after Griffin went missing.

Officials also identified Tarus Dorail Crook, 33, of Spartanburg, as a person of interest in Devantae Griffin’s death.

“I don’t think this was happenstance,” Wright said. “I think, after this murder took place, there was some collaboration with someone else and that’s where he was found, in the shallow grave.”

“They just treated him as if he was nothing,” Felicia Griffin said. “As if he was just trash.”

Devantae Griffin, 28, was reported missing on March 30.

Griffin’s cousin Consana Ferguson said he was last seen with Strachan shortly after midnight on March 29.

Ferguson said “when he didn’t pick up the phone for me Tuesday morning, I knew something was wrong.”

She called Devantae’s brother and asked who Devantae was with, and the brother reportedly said “Jessica picked him up,” according to a video interview with WYFF.

Investigators said they spoke with Strachan the day after Griffin was officially reported missing, March 31.

The sheriff’s office said they eventually learned that Strachan gave them misleading information after this conversation, and she then became a person of interest.

Investigators said they asked her to come back in for another interview, but she left for Florida without notifying officials.

They obtained a search warrant and entered her home that day.

The following day, the sheriff’s office obtained an arrest warrant for obstruction of justice, and she was reportedly arrested in Miami, Florida.

Family told the outlet that the pair have a volatile history.

Griffin’s aunt, Beverly Griffin claimed the family has heard Strachan threaten Devantae before in what she describes as a “toxic relationship.”

Officials say it is unclear what relationship Devantae Griffin had with Crook, but they believe the two knew each other well.

Anyone with information about Crook or his involvement in the crime is asked to call investigator Megan Bennett at 864-503-4608 or mbennett@spartanburgcounty.org.