Update: 12/7/09 5:06 p.m.
Read more: State, Crime, Breaking, Hampton County, Margaret Gooding
COLUMBIA -- An elderly Lowcountry woman reported missing and a possible victim of a home invasion and kidnapping has been found alive in Colleton County.
According to the Hampton County Sheriff's Office, Margaret Gooding, 78, went missing around 1:30 a.m. Monday morning.
Hampton County Sheriff T.C. Smalls said Gooding was found around 4 p.m. Monday. No arrests have been made and Smalls said more details would be provided as they become available.
A department spokesperson earlier Monday had said officers were treating Gooding's home as a crime scene and asked for the public's assistance in locating her.
The Charleston Post and Courier reported Monday afternoon that a 78-year-old woman was airlifted to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston after deputies found her in the trunk of a car with gunshot wounds to the abdomen. Authorities would not confirm if the injured woman is Gooding.
Barry McRoy, director of Colleton County Fire and Rescue, said the woman was taken by helicopter in stable condition, according to the Post and Courier report.
