Outside the Bird Dog bar, Samantha entered a black Chevrolet Impala that she believed was her ride. The car was not connected to the trip she had booked, and the driver, Nathaniel Rowland, was not her assigned driver. What followed was an act of deliberate violence for which Rowland alone was responsible. Samantha’s name later became associated with a national effort to make ride-share identification clearer and safer.
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| Samantha Josephson with her parents, Seymour and Marci Josephson. Their advocacy created the What’s My Name Foundation and helped advance ride-share safety laws. |
The Car Was Not Her Ride
At approximately 2:04 a.m., Samantha called her boyfriend to tell him she had ordered an Uber. Surveillance footage later showed her approaching Rowland’s black Impala and entering the rear passenger area. Her actual driver arrived after she had already left.
Evidence presented at trial showed that the rear child safety locks were engaged. Investigators also documented footprints on the inside of the rear windows. Those details helped the jury understand that Samantha had been trapped and had tried to escape.
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| A surveillance image of the black Chevrolet Impala that Samantha entered near the Bird Dog bar. It was not the vehicle assigned through the ride-share application. |
The Journey Away from Columbia
Samantha’s boyfriend was monitoring her location through the Find My Friends feature. He noticed that she was traveling away from her apartment and tried repeatedly to contact her. At about 2:30 a.m., the location signal stopped near the Rosewood area of Columbia.
Samantha was taken to a remote area near New Zion in Clarendon County, approximately 65 miles from Five Points. The medical examiner determined that she died from multiple sharp force injuries. The exact medical details are not needed to understand either the severity of the crime or the effort she made to survive.
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| The booking photograph of Nathaniel Rowland, who was convicted of murdering Samantha Josephson, kidnapping her, and possessing a weapon during a violent crime. |
The Missing Person Investigation
When Samantha did not return home or arrive for work, her roommates contacted police. Friends, family members, and officers searched for her while investigators gathered surveillance footage from the Bird Dog bar. The video showed the black Impala and allowed police to issue an updated alert containing an image of the vehicle.
Turkey hunters found Samantha’s body at about 2:00 p.m. on March 29 in a wooded area near New Zion. In the early hours of March 30, Officer Jeffrey Kraft saw a black Impala matching the alert only a few blocks from where Samantha had last been seen.
When Officer Kraft stopped the car, Rowland was driving. He ran as the officer began explaining why the vehicle had been stopped, and other officers apprehended him. Inside the car, police saw what appeared to be blood, footprints on the rear windows, Samantha’s phone and keys, and cleaning supplies.
The Evidence and the Trial
Investigators assembled evidence from the Impala, surveillance cameras, mobile phone records, GPS and cell site data, fingerprints, handwriting analysis, and DNA testing. Taken together, these findings connected Rowland, the vehicle, Samantha, and the remote area where she was found.
Samantha’s blood and DNA were identified on multiple items recovered during the investigation.
An envelope found inside the Impala carried Samantha’s DNA and Rowland’s fingerprint.
DNA mixtures from a multi-tool, paper towels, and a pair of pants included profiles associated with Samantha and, at different levels of statistical support, Rowland.
Surveillance and location records traced the movements of Samantha, Rowland, and the black Impala.
In July 2021, a jury found Rowland guilty of murder, kidnapping, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. He received life imprisonment without parole for murder and a concurrent five-year sentence for the weapons offense. In August 2024, the South Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions and sentences.
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| Nathaniel Rowland seated in court during his 2021 trial. The jury convicted him of murder, kidnapping, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. |
Samantha’s Safety Legacy
Samantha’s parents, Seymour and Marci Josephson, transformed their grief into sustained public advocacy. Through the What’s My Name Foundation, they have promoted practical ride-share safety and supported charitable and educational programs in their daughter’s memory.
South Carolina enacted the Samantha L. Josephson Ridesharing Safety Act in 2019. It requires ride-share vehicles to display the license plate number at the front and creates penalties for falsely presenting oneself as an authorized driver. Federal Sami’s Law became law in January 2023 and directed national studies of assaults, background checks, and safety practices involving ride-share and taxi services.
Passengers can reduce risk by checking the license plate, vehicle make and model, and driver photograph shown in the application before opening the door. Asking the driver to confirm the passenger’s name provides another check. These precautions are useful, but responsibility for this crime never belonged to Samantha. It belonged to the person who trapped, abducted, and murdered her.
Sources: Official trial broadcasts and court transcripts from State of South Carolina v. Nathaniel Rowland, 2021, provided by Court TV; press releases, timeline data, and surveillance footage statements released by the Columbia Police Department in March 2019; national news coverage and legislative archives regarding the creation and signing of Sami’s Law, including CNN, CBS News, and official congressional records.