ELGIN, S.C., Aug. 29 (UPI) -- A man described as a career criminal is being held in connection with the Aug. 18 disappearance of South Carolina teenager Gabrielle Swainson, authorities said.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said 52-year-old Freddie Grant refuses to cooperate with the FBI and investigators searching for the missing 15-year-old, The State, Columbia, S.C. reported Wednesday.
Investigators traced Gabrielle's cellphone signal to Grant's house in Elgin, S.C. and found her DNA there, Lott said.
Grant, 52, had a relationship with Gabrielle's mother, Elvia Swainson.
More than 120 Richland County sheriff's deputies, FBI agents and other police officers searched Elgin and its outskirts Tuesday.
Officers were seen looking underneath houses, crawling in drainage ditches and walking through woods.
Lott said Grant has an extensive criminal record dating back at least 25 years.
He is also being investigated in connection with the 2011 disappearance of Adrianna Diana, 28, who lived with Grant.
