Cleveland Cleve Jennings Sanders III, 62, was reported missing to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office after family members had not seen or heard from him since July 6, 2021. Deputies searched his home on Poinsettia Drive in Easley, South Carolina, and located his body in a makeshift structure in a nearby wooded area. An autopsy determined he died from a gunshot wound to the head and estimated the killing occurred on or about July 6.

Investigators identified an acquaintance, 33-year-old Amber Christine Fernandez Cruz of Pickens, who admitted to shooting Sanders. Cruz was taken into custody and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime; she was booked into the Anderson County Detention Center. The motive has not been released.

Did anyone in the Easley or Pickens area know Sanders or Cruz and have information that could shed light on what led to this killing?