Horry County police searching for missing teen girl, cleared a person of interest in case

Several Horry County police detectives are searching for information about a 16-year-old girl last seen by her friends Thursday morning at a Surfside Beach restaurant, Lt. Raul Denis said Friday.

“Our Criminal Investigations Division has mobilized several detectives to work this case,” Denis said.

Police identified and cleared “Jeremy,” a person of interest in the case by 7:45 p.m. Friday, Denis said.

“Our information so far indicates that she is likely alone and we have no evidence of foul play at this time,” Denis said. The police’s tip line is still active, he said.

Marley McKenna Spindler was last seen about 7:30 a.m. Thursday when she met her friends at a Chick-Fil-A on S.C. 544 before school, Denis said. Police learned that Spindler went to pick up the man, identified as Jeremy, to take him home in the Garden City Beach area of Georgetown County.

Spindler told friends she would be at school afterwards, but she did not show up to Socastee High School and has not been seen since, according to an Horry County police report. A friend of Spindler told police that “Jeremy” was somewhere on Ocean Boulevard and Spindler had met him on the beach about three weeks ago.

Spindler was last heard from in a group text message at 8:42 a.m. Thursday, according to the report. Spindler’s father called her cellphone at 4 p.m. and a clerk with Ocean Reef Resort answered and said the phone had been found earlier in the day in their parking lot.

Detectives took the phone and reported that Spindler was driving a silver 2002 Ford Escape with South Carolina license plate No. KFI776.

On Friday, Denis released a photo of Spindler’s vehicle that was taken by another law enforcement agency before she was reported missing, he said. It’s unclear the details under which the law enforcement agency got the photo.

Anyone with information about Spindler’s whereabouts can call Horry County police at 843-915-7995.

This story was originally published August 21, 2015 at 6:35 AM with the headline "Horry County police searching for missing teen girl, cleared a person of interest in case."