Jessica Barnes was found dead in Pickens after going missing Aug. 1. Here's what police say happened. (2024)

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  • By Anna B. Mitchellamitchell@postandcourier.com

    Anna B. Mitchell

    Ed Lab reporter

    Anna B. Mitchell is a Greenville-based investigative reporterfor the Post and Courier's Education Lab team. A licensed Englishand social studies teacher, Anna covers education in the Upstateand collaborates with other reporters for coverage on statewideeducation trends. She studied history at the University of NorthCarolina, journalism at the University of Missouri, and holds anMBA from the University of Applied Sciences in Würzburg. For fun,Anna plays bassoon, visits her family in Germany as often as shecan, and takes her doggy, Ashe, for long walks with her daughterand husband.

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Jessica Barnes was found dead in Pickens after going missing Aug. 1. Here's what police say happened. (10)

PENDLETON— The remains of 20-year-old Jessica Barnes, missing since Aug. 1, have been identified and her husband is now charged with murder.

An Oct. 2 arrest warrant for 21-year-old Brandon Richard Barnes says he used his "arms to strangle her to death." He and two roommates facing accessory charges were denied bond in a 4 p.m. hearing.

The remains were found late last month at Twin Lakes Park on Hartwell Lake. Investigators believe the body was moved there from the Barnes' home on Laurel Drive in Pendleton, according to Pendleton Chief of Police Robert Crosby.

Jessica Barnes was found dead in Pickens after going missing Aug. 1. Here's what police say happened. (11)

Crosby said on Oct. 2 that half of hissix-person town police force had worked the case since Jessica's mother, Cecilia Varvara, reported the disappearance on Sept. 10. Crosby called the State Law Enforcement Division for assistance six days later, and police searched the couple's Laurel Drive home on Sept. 20.

Her remains were found later that day in the Twin Lakes recreational area, just over the county line in Pickens County, though it took a few more days to confirm they were human and that they belonged to her.

Crosby said Barnes likely died on Aug. 2 at her Laurel Drive residence in Anderson County.

"She's not with her abuser anymore, and she's in heaven with Jesus," the victim's mother said at a press conference at Pendleton Town Hall on Oct. 2. "I thank God and everybody who helped her find it, and I want to thank everybody who prayed for us and for the family and for the siblings."

Jessica Barnes was found dead in Pickens after going missing Aug. 1. Here's what police say happened. (12)

Jessica's mother did not realize her daughter was in danger at first, though she said she knew the marriage was in turmoil over previous relationships.

Varvara received text messages from Jessica's phone in the first weeks of August saying her daughter had moved to Michigan and that she was going to get a new number that she didn't want to share with her mother.

It was on Aug. 26— Varvara's birthday— she knew something was terribly wrong.

"She typically calls on the birthday," Crosby, the police chief, said. "At that point she became concerned and she reported it to the police department here on the 10th of September."

Jessica Barnes was found dead in Pickens after going missing Aug. 1. Here's what police say happened. (14)

Following the Michigan lead,Crosby said his officers contacted authorities there as well as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to make sure Jessica Barnes had not left the country.

Jessica Barnes was found dead in Pickens after going missing Aug. 1. Here's what police say happened. (15)

On Oct. 1, Pendleton police and the Pickens County coroner learned that a Clemson University forensic odontologist, who studies the structure and diseases of teeth, had confirmed the remains found in the park belonged to Jessica Barnes.

Two other people were also charged in her death: Kendall Faith Mims and Victoria Lee Tippett. The chief identified these women as Barnes' roommates. They were charged with failing to report a crime and aiding to dispose of the victim's body.

Jessica Barnes was found dead in Pickens after going missing Aug. 1. Here's what police say happened. (16)

All three were interviewed at the Clemson Police Department, and all three were charged by Pendleton police after those interviews, the chief said. They were booked into the Anderson County Detention Center on Oct. 2.

Jessica Barnes was the oldest of five siblings. Her siblings — ages 12, 14, 16 and 18 — and her aunt attended the Oct. 2 press conference at Pendleton Town Hall along with Mayor Frank Crenshaw.

"She was the oldest," Varvara said. "She was the one who helped me with them."

A spokesperson for the family, Troy Styles of Blunt Force Media, described Jessica Barnes as strong and as a person of faith.

"She was a bold personality. She had dreams. She had ambition. Little by little, it was stripped away from her," Styles said.

Jessica Barnes was found dead in Pickens after going missing Aug. 1. Here's what police say happened. (17)

Varvara, who also lives in Pendleton, said she was surrounded by family and that she had called Barnes' father in Romania on Oct. 1 to let him know Barnes had died.

Asked how she was holding up, she answered, "Well enough."

The case has drawn national attention, including a writeup Sept. 23 inPeople magazine.

In a town of 4,000 people not used to violent crime, the case has been the talk of Pendleton. Businesses kept piles of missing-person fliers by their tills, and the case was a frequent topic of discussion on social media in the area. With hopes that she might still be found alive, the community held a candlelight vigil for Barnes the night of Sept. 20 in Pendleton's town square.

Crosby said the last murder in Pendleton was in 2019.

"Our hearts and prayers at the town of Pendleton go out to Cecilia and her family," Mayor Crenshaw said at the press conference. "This is just a terrible thing ... the first time I've had to come to something like this as mayor, and it's a terrible loss for our community."

Follow Anna B. Mitchell on X at @EdReporterSC.

More information

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Anna B. Mitchell

Ed Lab reporter

Anna B. Mitchell is a Greenville-based investigative reporterfor the Post and Courier's Education Lab team. A licensed Englishand social studies teacher, Anna covers education in the Upstateand collaborates with other reporters for coverage on statewideeducation trends. She studied history at the University of NorthCarolina, journalism at the University of Missouri, and holds anMBA from the University of Applied Sciences in Würzburg. For fun,Anna plays bassoon, visits her family in Germany as often as shecan, and takes her doggy, Ashe, for long walks with her daughterand husband.

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Jessica Barnes was found dead in Pickens after going missing Aug. 1. Here's what police say happened. (2024)
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