A Jackson woman remained missing Tuesday even as Aiken County authorities hunted down her estranged boyfriend and took him into custody for a previous domestic violence case.
Daniel Harmon, 34, was captured and hospitalized early Tuesday after SWAT team members found him at a home in North Augusta.
Jamilla Shanae’ Smith, 30, was heard on a 911 call on Saturday, screaming in the background as a suspect believed to be Harmon ordered her into a car. The sheriff’s office put out a missing-persons alert Monday night, calling both of them missing and endangered.
Authorities got a tip overnight about their Dodge Charger being at a Carpentersville Road home in North Augusta. SWAT team members were called, perhaps based on violent encounters with Harmon in the past. He has also made threats of self-harm, sheriff’s Capt. Eric Abdullah said.
The house was cleared and Harmon was taken into custody, but they realized he had taken a number of prescription drugs and needed to be hospitalized.
But where is Jamilla and was she harmed? “We are still working it as a missing person case until we find out something different,” Capt. Abdullah said.
Family members reported last hearing from her around 7 p.m. Saturday. Smith didn’t pick up her child from the child’s father in Augusta, which was odd.
Her mother told authorities that Harmon has a history of abusing Smith. He had also threatened to kill his girlfriend and then himself. So Smith broke off their relationship.
Around 8:45 p.m. Saturday, Smith made a call to 911 saying her ex-boyfriend had come to her home in Jackson, and she ran down the street to get away from him.
“The dispatcher then noted the female began to scream and heard a male voice telling her to get in a vehicle and then started blowing the vehicle horn rapidly,” the report says. “The dispatcher then noted the phone went silent and the phone call was ended. The dispatcher attempted to call the caller back but received no answer.”
At Smith’s home on Old Jackson Highway, deputies found a window screen that was damaged, the woman’s keys on the ground and a shoeprint on the front door.
If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of Smith, contact the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office at 803-648-6811. Tipsters can also send a message about this case by going to www.aikencountysheriff.net.
Harmon was given probation for a 2019 incident in which he wrestled a North Augusta officer during a traffic stop, jumping back into his car and fleeing into Georgia. It wasn’t until the next year that they arrested him. But the fleeing police charge was dropped and he was given probation for a grand larceny charge, according to online records. A 2016 conviction for unlawful neglect of a child was reduced to time served.
Harmon was previously arrested in Richmond County for a long list of charges, including cocaine possession, aggravated assault, weapon possession and domestic violence. He never got anything more than probation and fines.
