A South Carolina woman has been arrested after allegedly helping her boyfriend cover up the murder of his wife. Shockingly, she was only a teenager at the time…
In October of 2016, Catherine “Cati” Blauvelt — wife of John Blauvelt — vanished without a trace after finishing work at a local Greenville pet store. Two days later Cati’s lifeless body would be found in an abandoned building in Simpsonville nearly 20 minutes away from where she was last seen. According to the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, the woman’s body was covered in violent stab wounds. So awful…
Immediately, John became a person of interest in the case due to his estranged relationship with his wife. Local radio station WSPA reported earlier this year he had fled the state the day before Catherine’s body was discovered — along with his then 17-year-old girlfriend Hannah Thompson. He wasn’t seen again until July 2022 when US Marshals tracked him down after a six-year-long manhunt. They were finally able to locate and arrest the accused in Medford — a city in Oregon that lies all the way across the country from Greenville. But even such an obscure, distant location couldn’t keep him hidden forever.
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Blauvelt was taken into custody in July and charged with murder in relation to his spouse’s stabbing. Fox Carolina reported on Wednesday he was also arrested for deserting the US Army because he was working as a recruiter at the time he left town. The 33-year-old isn’t the only one who’s been arrested relating to this horrific crime, though…
The now 23-year-old Thompson was taken into custody on Wednesday on the grounds of helping her decade-older partner on the day of Cati’s murder. She’s also been accused of lying about his whereabouts to protect him — at only 17 years old!
According to an arrest warrant cited by WYFF 4, Hannah was allegedly the one who drove John to the pet store and dropped him off the day his wife was murdered. She then followed him in her vehicle after her then-boyfriend drove his wife’s car into a parking lot to make it look as if she had abandoned it. Thompson also went on the run with him in November 2016 only to return home to the Palmetto State in December. After returning home she failed to report his whereabouts and told police he just “disappeared one morning.”
Hannah is currently being held at Greenville County Detention Center and has been charged with two counts of misprision of a felony, two counts of obstruction of justice, and one count of accessory after the fact, via the Simpsonville Police Department. She is being held without bond and both she and her ex-boyfriend John await their next trial dates which have not been released as of yet.
Carmen Kelley, a family member of Catherine’s, told WYFF 4 on Wednesday the family is still aching for the loss of their loved one six years on:
“She was so young. She never had a chance to be a mother. She never had a chance to live her life and that to me kills me inside.”
Just heartbreaking. Our hearts are with Cati’s family and loved ones, we hope she gets the justice she deserves soon.
[Image via Greenville County Detention Center/YouTube/WYFF News 4]