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Chadbourn, NC — William Anthony Spivey was fired last year from his role as Chief of Police in Chadbourn after he was hit with dozens of charges including evidence mishandling, drug trafficking and embezzling. The disgraced police chief was due in court last month when all of the sudden, he went missing.

On February 21, Spivey was reported missing in Columbus County, North Carolina after he never returned from a fishing trip on the Lumber River. According to the Columbus County Sheriff's Office, his absence led to an extensive water search by multiple local and state agencies.

Deputies arrived on the scene, along with Sheriff’s Office Investigators and Special Operations Units, including the Man Tracking and Dive Units. As the Sheriff’s Office began to search the area, investigators spoke to Spivey’s friends and family who were at the scene. Investigators began collecting evidence. Family members described the incident as a possible suicide. Handwritten letters were collected at the scene, along with the boat, that also contained a .22 caliber rifle with a discharged round still in the rifle. All evidence was collected by Crime Scene Investigators and processed.

The search lasted for several days despite police finding that the collected evidence did not support a suicide scenario.

However, with Spivey still missing, dive crews searched waters, and tracking teams searched the wooded areas for Spivey. Search and rescue crews conducted searches for three days, including several agencies assisting with aerial coverage, K9 sniffing, and sonar scanning.

After three days of searching and collecting video evidence from nearby surveillance systems, it became clear that Spivey did not kill himself and the suicide was staged. The search was then called off and a warrant was issued for Spivey's arrest for missing his court date on Feb 23.

On the 24th of February, police received a tip that led them to an apartment complex in South Carolina. When officers showed up, Spivey ran from the complex and fled into a nearby wooded area.

My Horry News reported that as officers attempted to arrest him, Spivey yelled that he would have to shoot as he reached for his waist area, police said. Amazingly enough, police did not shoot in this instance and Spivey was taken into custody without further incident.

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He was booked into custody at J. Reuben Long Detention Center where he is currently being held on a $1,000,000 bond.

Last April Spivey was fired from his role as police chief after investigators hit him with 88 felony charges. Spivey had been stealing guns, drugs and cash from the evidence locker.

“The indictments make clear a number of firearms were stolen by former Chief Spivey from the evidence locker at the Chadbourn Police Department,” District Attorney Jon David said at the time.

Spivey was selling the stolen items to his friends and family.

“The SBI has already recovered a number of stolen firearms, several of which former Chief Spivey sold to friends, family members and acquaintances,” David said.

The warrants allege Spivey stole more than $33,000 in cash, took hundreds of prescription pills, including Xanax and opioids, and at least four guns from the evidence locker. He’s also accused of stealing cocaine and ecstasy pills.

Sadly, it appears that Spivey was addicted to prescription opioids which sent him down this path of crime. Investigators also found that Spivey had been caught lying to doctors to get multiple prescriptions for opioids. He also filed a fake police report to claim his prescription of oxycontin had been stolen, according to the warrant.

Because he was a cop, Spivey likely abused his position of authority to keep his addiction going for years. If addicts weren't treated as criminals in the land of the free, perhaps Spivey could have gotten help before he turned to a life of crime.