Kriti Mehrotra
It was October 2, 2020, when the community of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was left baffled to the core as 46-year-old Gregory Vincent Rice suddenly disappeared without a trace left behind. As explored in ABC’s ’20/20: Driven to Death,’ what subsequently came to light was a complex web of betrayals, lies, and mercilessness, especially as the proud father of five was later found dead. In other words, he was brutally killed at the hands of someone he once reportedly trusted the most, which ended up shattering his entire family apart too.
Greg Rice Was Found Dead Over a Month After He Went Missing
Gregory “Greg” Vincent Rice was born on October 13, 1973, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Patricia Ann Ackley Rice and Robert William Rice as the youngest of their five sons. He was thus raised alongside 4 elder brothers – Robert Rice Jr., Kenneth Rice, Timothy Rice, and Stephen Rice – from whom he learned the meaning of care, kindness, providing, as well as support. The fact that their parents were also very loving helped them maintain a tight-knit bond too, which persisted even after the youngest ended up relocating to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
In fact, by the time fall 2020 rolled around, 46-year-old Greg was a proud son, brother, and father of five who had once been married but had no interest in tying the knot again. Nevertheless, as per his kids from two different affinities – Zachary, Savannah, Dakota, Madison, and Blake – he always maintained amicable bonds with their respective mothers for their sake. The comic book collector, hobbyist golfer, passionate surfer, and outdoor enthusiast was doing his best as a single father when he suddenly went missing on October 2, 2020.
According to records, Greg was last seen near Flintlake Drive outside his base city, and it was his ex-partner/the mother of 4 of his children, Meagan Jackson, who reported him missing on October 5. What followed was an extensive search for the family man since it was highly uncharacteristic of him to simply disappear when all he ever wanted was to spend time with his kids, but to no avail. Unfortunately, it was his decomposing, tarp-wrapped remains that were eventually found along the Little Pee Dee River near Pitts Landing off Highway 378 over a month later, on November 8, 2020. He had been shot to death, with his autopsy confirming five bullet wounds and significant efforts to hide his body.
A Betrayal By Someone He Trusted Turned Fatal For Greg Rice
As per official records, by the time Greg’s remains were discovered, local authorities had already made significant breakthroughs in their investigations by looking into his personal life. They learned that while he and Meagan had officially parted ways in November 2019, they remained in close contact for their 4 children, but it was not as amicable as many believed. That’s because he had apparently uncovered not only her affair with Horry County deputy coroner and a married father of two, Christopher “Chris” Dontell, but also that she was pregnant with his child.
According to police records, this caused issues between the trio as Greg once told Meagan he would expose the affair to Chris’ wife if they didn’t part ways, and the latter did ultimately find out. As per records, an unidentified text-free phone number had informed Erica Dontell of her husband’s illicit relationship with the mother of four, and not long after, the 46-year-old went missing. The officials thus largely focused on these individuals during their inquiry into Greg’s disappearance, just to find an apparent mountain of evidence against his ex-girlfriend and her lover.
Not only was there a text thread between Meagan and Chris from days before Greg’s murder, revealing their intentions of causing him harm, but surveillance footage also incriminated them. While the mother of 4 had texted her lover, “I’m all for popping a tire or cutting a brake line on him,” he replied, “Unfortunately, I am too now.” Then, officials also found footage from a home improvement store showing Chris buying cement blocks, a tarp, and zip ties on October 3, 2020. These purchases are significant because Greg had gone missing a day prior, and then he was found wrapped in a tarp, with his hands bound, and weighted down by at least one cinder block on November 8.
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Meagan Jackson and Chris Dontell Were Convicted For Their Roles in Greg Rice’s Murder
As a result of the details above, along with license plate readers indicating Chris’ car had traveled to the spot from where Greg was recovered around the time of the crime, he and Meagan were arrested on November 11, 2020. While Chris was later charged with murder, conspiracy, and accessory after the fact, Meagan was handed an indictment for charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, and unrelated counts of neglect of children. In the end, in December 2024, the former was allowed to only plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact, in exchange for his testimony against Meagan during her trial.
When Meagan eventually stood trial, the prosecutors asserted she was the only one who would benefit from Greg’s murder before adding that the evidence pointed towards the same. Chris then testified how he had no idea of Meagan’s plans, but that he saw her shooting her ex-boyfriend as he was walking along the road from inside his vehicle. He claimed he was driving, so Meagan was sitting on the passenger side when she suddenly pulled out a weapon, opened fire, and asked him to help her dispose of Greg’s remains.
Meagan’s defense team tried arguing that the evidence actually pointed towards Greg as the triggerman and not her, since he was the one seen in every surveillance footage, but to no avail. After less than 3 hours of deliberations, the mother of four was found guilty of murder in the summer of 2025, for which she was later sentenced to life in prison. On July 14, 2025, Chris was also sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison — 15 years for criminal conspiracy to commit murder and 5 years for accessory after the fact.
