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On the evening of December 15, 1979, a security guard for the Northwoods Mall discovered the dead bodies of two elderly sister missionaries from the LDS church in a vehicle in the Mall's parking lot. The two missionaries had been shot, dumped into the vehicle and left in the parking lot.

Elizabeth W. King (66) from Kaysville, Utah and Jane Ruth Cannell Teuscher (65) from Fish Haven, Idaho were elderly, or senior, missionaries assigned to the South Carolina Columbia Mission and were at the time laboring in the North Charleston area. On the night of December 15, 1979, it appeared, according to police involved in the case, that the sister missionaries were ambushed, kidnapped and then shot down by James Arthur Brown. He then dumped their bodies into a car (not sure if was the car assigned to the missionaries or a stolen vehicle) and left it in the Northwoods Mall parking lot, where it was later discovered by a mall security guard. 

James Arthur Brown, 24, had recently been released on $5,000 bail in connection to an attack on a local woman in October of that year. He was arrested at his parents house in connection to the murders of the LDS missionaries.

The bodies were returned to their respective homes and these two sister missionaries are considered martyrs of the LDS church being that they were killed while in the service of the church in proselyting purposes. 

Any further information needed that relate to the investigation and possible conviction of James Arthur Brown are sorely needed. Any authentic photos of the sister missionaries, the crime scene and/or James Arthur Brown should also be added to this entry. 

December 17, 1979 The Index-Journal from Greenwood, South Carolina · Page 8