CAYCE, S.C. — Cayce officials say Faye Swetlik's neighbor killed her by asphyxiation hours after abducting her, then took his own life nearly three days later.
TheCayce Department of Public Safety, Coroner Margaret Fisher, and other officials held a news conference Tuesday afternoon about the death of Swetlik, the South Carolina girl who vanished in front of her home last week.
"This was not just an investigation or case for us," said Cayce DPS Chief Byron Snellgrove. "Faye Swetlik quickly grabbed our hearts...Faye will never be forgotten."
Snellgrove said based on their investigation, the little girl was taken by 30-year-old Coty Taylor, a man who lived just around the corner from Faye's home.
Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher released Swetlik's cause of death but did not give many details beyond that she died of asphyxiation, saying she did that out of respect to the family. She said Swetlik was not killed in the woods where her body was found, and had only been there a short time before she was discovered.
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