Global InformationDisappearance of Heather Elvis information
Heather Elvis | |
|---|---|
 Image of Elvis circulated after her disappearance | |
| Born | Heather Rachelle Elvis June 30, 1993 Horry County, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Disappeared | December 18, 2013 (aged 20) Carolina Forest, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Status | Missing for 10 years, 5 months and 18 days |
| Alma mater | St. James High School |
| Occupation(s) | Waitress, makeup artist |
| Employer(s) | Tilted Kilt, House of Blues |
On December 17, 2013, Heather Elvis (born June 30, 1993),[1] of Carolina Forest, South Carolina, United States, went on a first date with a man that ended when he dropped her off at her apartment the following morning at 1:15 a.m. The date had been Elvis' attempt to move on after a relationship with Sidney Moorer, a repairman she had met through her job at a local restaurant, that had ended two months earlier. At 1:44 a.m., Elvis called her roommate, Brianna Warrelmann, who was visiting family, to tell her how the date had gone.[2] The conversation lasted approximately ten minutes. Warrelman had advised Elvis against returning Sidney's calls, and cautioned Elvis "not to do anything rash and to get some sleep."[2] Elvis' cell phone activity ended that day around 6 a.m.,[1] and she has not been seen or heard from since.[3]
According to some accounts, Elvis' disappearance had been a result of Sidney's wife, Tammy, learning of her husband's affair. She sent Elvis several confrontational text messages but denies any role in her disappearance. Phone records show that Elvis' and Sidney's phones were used to call each other several times in the early hours of December 18; he says the two did talk with each other briefly on two occasions, but also denies any wrongdoing—despite security camera footage showing a truck believed to be his driving to and from the boat landing where Elvis' car was found that evening.
Four months later, both Moorers were charged with murder, obstruction of justice, and indecent exposure; investigation also led to the couple being charged with Medicaid fraud. The murder and indecent exposure charges were dropped in 2016, but Sidney was convicted of the obstruction charge the following year. His trial on the kidnapping charges ended in a hung jury; he was convicted on retrial two years later.[4] Shortly after the mistrial the Moorers were indicted on an additional charge of conspiracy. Tammy was convicted of both charges in October 2018;[5] she is currently appealing.
Despite the convictions, many of the facts of the case remain in dispute. In text messages and posts on social media, Tammy depicted Elvis as an obsessed stalker whose attention to her husband would not have bothered her if she had not become physically threatening to the family; Elvis' friends have suggested, in turn, that Sidney privately told Elvis he wanted to continue the affair to the point of leaving his wife, who reportedly handcuffed him to the bed at night to keep him faithful to her and, Sidney's family claims, physically abused him. Sidney reported to the police several instances in which he was physically threatened while on bail from the murder charges, and posted signs decrying harassment of his children on his property; similarly, the Elvises held a news conference to denounce what they claimed was organized online harassment of them.
- ^ a b "Timeline of events in the Heather Elvis case". WMBF. September 23, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
- ^ a b Lang, Alex (October 16, 2018). "Text messages read in court nearly lead to a mistrial in Tammy Moorer case". Myrtle Beach Online. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
- ^ Salo, Jackie (October 9, 2018). "The tale of the waitress who messed with the wrong married man". The New York Post. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
- ^ Karrh, Amanda; Gorin, Tim; Taudte, Jeca; Rivers, Tim (March 5, 2021). "South Carolina love triangle: A woman's affair with a married man leads to her disappearance". ABC News. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
- ^ Hillier, Bianca (October 23, 2018). "South Carolina jury finds Tammy Moorer guilty in 2013 kidnapping of 20-year-old Heather Elvis". NBC News. Retrieved December 5, 2018.