Elderly couple kidnapped, tied up, robbed in Indian Land

By Greg Suskin

INDIAN LAND, S.C. — Margaret Cureton, 78, stepped out of her Indian Land home Wednesday night with her new puppy when two men in masks approached her.

"Somebody from this side, just shed around and dragged me in the house," Cureton said.

Her husbandof 58 years, John Cureton, was already in bed.

https://twitter.com/GSuskinWSOC9/status/695248303626309632

"They pulled me out of the bed and told me if I moved at all, they'd kill me," he said. “One man was armed with a gun and the other, a knife.”

Neighbors didn't hear anything including their cousin Shellie Springs who lives next door.

https://twitter.com/GSuskinWSOC9/status/695293068430426117

"It's terrible,” she said. “Something like this never happens out here in this neighborhood."

The two masked robbers tied up the elderly couple, John Cureton in the kitchen and his wife in a hallway.

She managed to get her hands over the back of the chair she was in and untied herself, then helped her husband.

"I was just praying and I was able to get free," she said. “We are blessed, just blessed."

The Curetons told Channel 9 the robbers were in the house for nearly 30 minutes going through drawers looking for money.

They made John Cureton open a gun safe and stole a pistol.

Then intruders drove off in his black 2012 Chevy Silverado that has a silver toolbox in the bed.

It has still not been recovered.

The couple doesn't know why they went after them, but John Cureton thinks he knows what they wanted.

"They're probably wanting money for drugs. That's probably what they're wanting," he said.

On Thursday, Margaret Cureton was still looking for the German shepherd puppy that disappeared during the attack.

Channel 9 was there when the puppy emerged from a wood pile where it hid all night and was reunited with the Curetons.

Read more of our top trending stories on wsoctv.com: