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Authorities have charged a Columbia man with the murder of his mother.
On Dec. 3, 2023, the body of 56-year-old Barnwell resident Regina Arroyo was found in Lexington County, just five days after she was last seen alive. On July 1, Arroyo’s son, 37-year-old Terry Lee Self Jr. was charged with murder, according to an arrest warrant.
“A canoer found the body of the suspect’s mother in the Edisto River Dec. 3,” said Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon. “Detectives confirmed the suspect and his mother were at the suspect’s house and left there together after an argument.”
Arroyo was reported missing to the Barnwell County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) on December 2. She was reportedly last seen on November 28 near King George, Virginia, finishing an animal transport with her son, according to her daughter, Mindy Lee, on Facebook. However, Arroyo's phone was last pinged on Wire Road in Aiken around 10:30 p.m.
“The evidence in the case indicates the suspect used a ligature to strangle Ms. Arroyo,” Koon said. “After he killed Ms. Arroyo, Self then dumped her body in the river and left.”
Arroyo’s disappearance was originally investigated by the BCSO and the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), but the investigation was turned over to state and Lexington County officials once her body was discovered. The Lexington County Coroner’s Office has also been involved in the investigation.
“Detectives have been working on this case for seven months, zeroing in on the person responsible Ms. Arroyo’s death,” Koon said. “We hope to give her family members and loved ones some sense of closure.”
Self is being held in Richland County at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on an unrelated charge. Lexington County investigators charged him Monday and brought him before a magistrate who denied him bond.
