GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. — A western North Carolina man is being investigated for the disappearance of an elderly woman in Greenville County, South Carolina, and law enforcement officers say he admitted to disposing of at least two other bodies.
NBC affiliate WYFF-TV reports Daniel Printz of Bostic, North Carolina, was originally arrested with grand larceny in September 2021 after he was spotted with a car that belonged to 80-year-old Edna Suttles, of Greenville, South Carolina. The Greenville County Sheriff's Office said Suttles went missing in the county on August 27, 2021, just days before Printz was spotted.
A federal warrant from Feb. 23, 2022, said Printz said he had disposed of at least two bodies, prompting deputies to obtain a search warrant for his 6.5-acre property in rural Rutherford County. According to WYFF, the warrant indicated Printz and Suttles were both spotted on surveillance footage on Aug. 27 leaving a store in her car. The video also reportedly showed Printz helping Suttles get into his own car.
The warrant also said Printz drove Suttles' car to a hotel parking lot, wiping it down throughout and leaving it. He also reportedly went back to the car and drove off with Suttles, apparently motionless.
Since his arrest in September 2021, Printz had not been back home. WYFF reports law enforcement who previously searched his property in October 2021 found a bee box near trees. Inside was Suttles' purse, car keys, zip-ties, a rope, medication, and other belongings. A black trash bag and a tarp were also found nearby.
A K9 brought out to the property did detect the odor of human remains, but the sheriff's office said nothing was found.
After his property was initially searched, Printz did admit to deputies he had last visited Suttles on Aug. 27, 2021, claiming they were friends. But he insisted he dropped her off at her home. But the third interview took another turn when Printz said he "hypothetically" buried more bodies.
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WYFF reports the warrant claims Printz supposedly helped a friend with the death of a family member, but the friend supposedly started regretting it as the body was buried. Printz described the family member as "one body" and the friend as the "second body". Printz also claimed he was trying to help another friend, but that person ended up dying; Printz said he buried that person and didn't report it so he could claim social security benefits. He also claimed someone tried to rob him, but killed the would-be thief and disposed of the body elsewhere.
Printz declined to provide more specific details about Suttles' disappearance to deputies, but the warrant claimed he could take them very close to Suttles' location.
WYFF said Printz was also connected in the warrant to a missing Charlotte woman, identified as Nancy Rego. She's been missing since 2017. Rego's family told investigators she had been in a relationship with Printz before she disappeared.
As of March 16, 2022, Printz has not been charged in connection with any deaths.