Adriana Diana Laster
Laster, circa 2011; Gabrielle Swainson; Freddie Grant
- Missing Since 09/03/2011
- Missing From Elgin, South Carolina
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Sex Female
- Race Black
- Date of Birth 10/28/1983 (40)
- Age 27 years old
- Height and Weight 5'4, 120 pounds
- Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Laster's nicknames are Drana and Gigi. She has a scar on her chin and her ears are pierced. Some accounts spell her name "Adrianna."
Details of Disappearance
Laster was last seen on Kelly Street in Elgin, South Carolina on September 3, 2011. She had left her boyfriend, Freddie Grant, and was hiding from him staying with a woman. The woman advised Laster not to go to church on Sunday, as she feared Grant would find her. Laster has never been heard from again. She was reported missing by a family member in Florida on March 17, 2012, six months after she was last seen.
In June 2013, Grant led authorities to the body of Gabrielle Swainson, a 15-year-old Columbia, South Carolina girl who had been missing since August 2012. He had dated the girl's mother. Grant confessed that he had used a key he claimed to have lost to enter Swainson's home, kidnapped her from her bed as she slept, and sexually assaulted and murdered her.
Photos of Grant and Swainson are posted with this case summary. In 2014, he pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, to run concurrently with 18 years he was already serving for a weapons charge. In exchange, authorities dropped charges against Grant's daughter, who'd been charged as an accessory after the fact to Swainson's murder. Grant's release date is 2043.
Laster left behind a daughter; although she didn't have custody of her, she was active in the girl's life. She is originally from Florida, and her aunt and legal guardian lived in Alabama at the time of her disappearance. Foul play is suspected in Laster's case; she had been a victim of domestic abuse at Grant's hands and he had beaten her severely on multiple occasions, including while she was pregnant. He has never been charged in her disappearance, however; it remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
- Elgin Police Department 803-438-9917
Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated February 14, 2021; casefile added.