After the release from the hospital, the woman who became the focus of a month-long mystery following a car crash is apprehended by authorities.
Susan Rhodes, a resident of Edgefield County, South Carolina, was arrested on August 12, 2025, by the North Augusta Department of Public Safety. The arrest came following a regional search effort due to her disappearance in the woods near Gregory Lake Road on June 11.
According to reports, Rhodes was charged with hit and run involving an attended vehicle, reckless driving, and open container. She is currently being held at the Edgefield County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond.
The events leading up to her arrest were dramatic. When authorities asked Rhodes to call 911 so they could track her location, she hung up. Officers eventually found her hiding in a bathroom.
Upon finding her, officers provided her with bread and water, as per Rhodes' account. She was then taken to a hospital, where she claimed to have believed she had suffered a stroke and could not remember much.
Rhodes' story of being swept away by a creek and aided by strangers was found to be fabricated by investigators who discovered evidence of alcohol consumption and disorientation at the crash scene.
In the days following the accident and her disappearance into the woods, authorities and Rhodes' roommate were able to speak to her briefly on the phone. She sounded confused and disoriented.
Shortly after her return on August 5, police received word from a roommate that Rhodes was at her house. Officers entered the house through an open window as the rear door was locked. An open beer container was found in the car at the scene of the June 11 crash on Gregory Lake Road.
Rhodes related a bizarre tale of her whereabouts following her return last Tuesday. She claimed a vehicle stopped with an older male and female in it after she made it out to an unknown road. She also said the river was going so fast that she lost her pants and shoes. Rhodes said she held onto a root to keep from drowning.
Three arrest warrants were served against Rhodes for hit-and-run on an attended vehicle, reckless driving, and open container of alcohol. Her first court date is scheduled for November 20.
[1] Source: North Augusta Department of Public Safety press release, August 12, 2025.
- Despite her fabricated stories of being swept away by a creek and aided by strangers, Susan Rhodes' mental health status seems questionable, given her reported confusion and disorientation during the events leading up to her arrest.
- Amidst the general news of Susan Rhodes' arrest for hit and run, reckless driving, and open container, health-and-wellness and mental-health concerns arise due to her seemingly erratic behavior and account of the events.
