Man recently arrested in 1988 cold case found dead in South Carolina jail

BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC/Gray News) - The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating the death of a man who died while in custody in Beaufort County.

Robert Odell Waters, 53, was found dead in the Beaufort County Detention Center on Saturday.

Waters had been arrested by authorities in connection to the 1988 murder of Cathy Swartz, according to the Three Rivers, Michigan, Police Department.

Waters was arrested April 30 in Swartz death, according to a report from WTOC.

The police department in Michigan says Swartz, who was 19 at the time, was “brutally” murdered in her apartment as her 9-month-old daughter sat in the next room.

The technology was able to narrow the suspect pool to a single family.

Police say they tested DNA from all the family members and identified Waters as the suspect.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spokesperson Renée Wunderlich says the investigation into Waters’ death at the jail is “active and ongoing.”

Wunderlich also says no other details are available from the agency at this time.

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