Private investigators, police will 'work as one' on Waring case

Charleston police and private detectives investigating Katherine Waring's death reached a detente today, avoiding a messy legal battle over evidence seized over the weekend.

The squabble erupted Saturday after a team of private detectives discovered Waring's remains on Wadmalaw Island. Police seized the investigators' vehicle and the evidence inside. Lawyer Andy Savage, who had hired the team on behalf of the Waring family, sued police and the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, claiming they had violated attorney-client privilege.

A gaggle of lawyers met behind closed doors at the county courthouse for nearly an hour Tuesday morning. Circuit Judge Thomas Hughston then announced that action on Savage's lawsuit had been postponed indefinitely.

Savage said the disputed items, which included evidence from unrelated cases, remained in the custody of the court. He called the lawsuit a legal issue and a matter of principle but vowed to continue working with authorities toward a successful prosecution of those involved in Waring's death.

"We are working as one and we will continue to work as one," he said. "We're all on the same side here."

Savage declined to discuss what arrangements had been hashed out inside the meeting, but he said "I expect we will resolve this issue without ever having to come back to this courthouse."

Charleston police Maj. Tony Elder and Mark Bourdon, the police department's in-house legal adviser, attended the proceeding but said a court-issued gag order prevented them from discussing the matter. Sheriff's Maj. John Clark also declined comment.

Sources familiar with the discussions, however, said Charleston police had agreed to return the seized items to Savage and his investigators. Savage and his team, in return, agreed to provide police with whatever items were pertinent to the Waring investigation, sources said.

Four private investigators — two retired sheriff's deputies and two former Charleston police officers — have been working for months on the Waring family's behalf to find the missing woman, who disappeared on June 12.

The private investigators developed information late Friday that pinpointed the exact location of the remains in a general area police had been searching, Savage said. The investigators notified police of this information and invited them to revisit the area on Saturday for another look. Police declined the invitation, so three of the investigators set out and found the body on their own, he said.

The remains were about 30 to 40 feet off the main road into Polly Point Plantation, a secluded development off Bears Bluff Road. Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten has not released the cause of the death.

After the team notified authorities, Charleston Police Greg Mullen and his commanders opted to declare that the vehicle the private detectives arrived in was part of the crime scene, Savage said. Police had the vehicle towed and seized the photographs, notes and other evidence inside. Savage responded with a lawsuit and a request for a restraining order to prevent police from viewing, using or sharing the evidence.

The case attracted a good deal of attention in the legal community. Lawyers and police officials filled the spectators rows in the courtroom, anxious to see how the dispute would play out. Mullen and Sheriff Al Cannon, the only law enforcement officials specifically named in the suit, did not attend.

On Tuesday, Savage described the episode as a legal disagreement that had "nothing to do with the Waring case" itself or the sides' shared desire to see those involved in her death brought to justice. He said both sides were prepared to move on in a professional manner.

"Every significant piece of evidence we have found we have turned over to the proper law enforcement agency from the day we got involved," Savage said. "There is no reason to believe we would want it any other way."

Waring lived with her parents on Murray Boulevard in Charleston. She vanished after she went to a West Ashley gym, a downtown drugstore and then to Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse. Her cell phone and credit cards haven't been used since.

Charleston police on Oct. 7 arrested a couple on charges of forgery and obstruction of justice in relation to the case. Ethan Mack, 29, of Pineland Drive on Johns Island, and Heather Angelica Kamp, 30, of Riley Road on James Island each were charged with one count of obstruction of justice and one count of forgery. Authorities allege both suspects gave false statements about events on the night Waring was last seen and that they forged a check drawn on Waring's account. Bail was set at $200,000 on Thursday for both.

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com.