By BETHAN SEXTON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: 18:48 BST, 31 March 2025 | Updated: 20:14 BST, 31 March 2025

Two parents and their nine-year-old daughter have mysteriously been found dead at their stunning South Carolina home.

The bodies of Richard Samarel, 54, his wife Lina, 45, and little Samantha were discovered on Friday morning.

Police from Spartansburg County Sheriff’s Office arrived at their Greer residence following a 911 call from a concerned neighbor.

Upon entering they discovered the three bodies inside the $783,000 five bed, six bathroom home and determined there was no threat to the public.

In a statement, police said that other residents of the home were in school at the time of the incident.

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No further information has been shared on how the three died and if the deaths were the result of a crime or some other circumstance. 

Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office did tell WYFF that they did not believe there was any threat to the public.

But they refused to say whether that meant they were investigating the deaths as an accident or murder-suicide. 

A social media profile for Lina Samarel indicate the couple also has a young son and another daughter, who have likely been orphaned by the terrible tragedy. 

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The bodies of Lina Samarel, 45, and her nine-year-old daughter Samantha were among three discovered at their South Carolina home on Friday morning

Richard Samarel, 54, was also found dead at the property after police entered the residence

The family were found dead at their $780,000 Greer home after a concerned neighbor called the police

The family were identified by the coroner’s office which put their time of death between 10:20 am and 11:29 am Friday.

‘More information will be released at the appropriate time once both the Coroner’s Office and this agency can further their respective investigations of this incident,’ the police said in a statement.

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Richard Samarel’s Facebook profile indicates he is originally from Cream Ridge, New Jersey.

He previously worked as an equities manager at Bloomberg LP.

Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office deputies are pictured at the scene of the disturbing deaths 

 His wife is Colombian and said she used to work for the US Department of Veteran Affairs.

The high-flying couple married in December 2009, according to Richard’s Facebook profile.

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They lived in a 5,100 square foot home which was built in 2019, according to Zillow.

Family and friends regularly left glowing comments under the young family enjoying their lives and the social media profiles give no indication as to any trouble.  

The property is in Greer, a city nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains which combines historic buildings and small town charm with city living.

According to NextDoor, Greer has a significantly lower crime rate of 17.86 per 1000 people, compared to the national average 33.37 per 1000 people.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – With an Elite Eight victory over Duke, South Carolina seniors Sania Feagin and Bree Hall have now made it to four straight Final Fours during their time as Gamecocks.

When asked if they thought their careers would “come out this way” when they signed with Dawn Staley four years ago, Feagin had a very simple answer.

“Yes, I did.”

Hall had a different perspective about being a part of the historic South Carolina era.

“I really can’t believe it,” Hall said. “When I committed here, I didn’t really expect it to be this good. This is definitely an experience that people dream about, and I’m just really glad I made the right choice.”

Playing alongside Feagin and Hall throughout the dominant run is Raven Johnson, a junior guard who redshirted as a freshman. Feagin and Hall have one year of eligibility left and have not yet announced if they plan to stay at South Carolina.

But that’s a decision for another day. The Gamecocks are focused on the Final Four next weekend and extending their run.

“We’re not done,” Johnson said. “We can set history winning a national championship, and that’s the plan. We all know what it takes, and we know it’s not gonna be easy.”

She already knows the path ahead will be a challenge because getting this far was one.

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No. 1 seed South Carolina survived No. 2 Duke 54-50, scoring a season-low paired with 16 turnovers. The matchup had four lead changes and four ties. Feagin and Hall each had three key rebounds in the fourth quarter. 

“The margin of error is very little,” said Johnson, adding that a missed shot can turn “the momentum of the game” to the other team.

This is now the third-straight nailbiter the Gamecocks have endured. They trailed at halftime in matchups against No. 9 Indiana in the second round and No. 4 Maryland in the Sweet 16. 

Prior to Sunday’s game, the Gamecocks had won 33 games with a 22.9-point margin of victory, so it’s safe to say they are usually comfortable on the court.

“I don’t know why everybody expects us to just blow everybody out,” Hall said. “These teams are coming to play. It’s not gonna be easy, every team is gonna be ready for us.”

The trio is ready to bring its experience to a familiar setting – the Final Four – and live up to its own expectation: winning.

Olivia Noni is a student in the University of Georgia’s  Sports Media Certificate program.

South Carolina women’s basketball is headed back to the Final Four for the fifth season in a row. On Sunday, the Gamecocks squeaked by a tough Duke Blue Devils squad 54-50 in the Elite Eight, ending their time in Birmingham. With 20 wins in their last 21 NCAA Tournament contests, USC was the first team to clinch tickets to Tampa.

South Carolina put three players on the Birmingham All-Regional Team.

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Junior forward Chloe Kitts won the Regional MVP. In the Gamecocks’ two games in Alabama, she averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. She was the team’s overall leading scorer and rebounder in the two games.

Senior forward Sania Feagin joined Kitts on the All-Regional Team. She averaged 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting over 50% from the field.

The third Gamecock to make the All-Regional squad was sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley. Fulwiley poured in 14 points per game to go with 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists. She led the team in scoring against Maryland and had important solo scoring and playmaking bursts in both games when the South Carolina offense got stagnant.

Joining Kitts, Feagin, and Fulwiley on the team were Duke freshman forward Toby Fournier and Duke junior guard Ashlon Jackson.

GamecockCentral’s Chris Wellbaum’s ballot was identical, but he had Feagin bringing home MVP honors. GamecockCentral’s Mingo Martin’s voting looked a little different with Fulwiley and Fournier joined by USC’s Te-Hina Paopao, Duke’s Jadyn Donovan, and Maryland’s Kaylene Smikle (Fulwiley was his MVP).

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With the triumph in Birmingham, South Carolina will play in its seventh Final Four, all coming since the 2014-2015 season. The Gamecocks have made it to the Final Four five seasons in a row, and that likely would have been six in a row had the 2019-2020 season not been cut short due to Covid.

Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks will take the floor again on Friday, April 4th in Tampa, Florida against the Monday night winner of the Elite Eight showdown between the Texas Longhorns and TCU Horned Frogs. Tip time and final television and streaming information remain unknown, though ESPN or ESPN2 will handle the broadcast.