Naman Shrestha
In October 2020, Gregory “Greg” Rice, a doting father of five children, suddenly vanished from his neighborhood, prompting an extensive search for him led by authorities and local residents. Much to the shock and horror of the entire community, it was reported that he had been killed. All the intricacies related to the case and the investigation that ensued are explored in a detailed manner in the episode titled ‘Driven to Death’ of ABC’s ’20/20,’ with the help of exclusive interviews with Greg’s loved ones and the officials linked to the investigation.
Greg Rice’s Remains Were Recovered From a River After a Month of Disappearance
On October 13, 1973, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Robert William Rice and Patricia Ann Rice welcomed a little bundle of joy into the world in the form of Gregory “Greg” Vincent Rice. Growing up alongside his brothers, Robert Jr., Kenneth, Timothy, and Stephen, Greg had a memorable childhood in the company of his loved ones. Being a sociable and outdoorsy person, he loved spending time with his friends and go on adventures. When it came to sports, he had a passion for golfing and surfing.
In his free time, Greg also enjoyed playing Fortnite and collecting comic books. At some point, he also got into a relationship with a woman named Meagan Jackson. Over the course of their romantic relationship, the couple had five children — Zachary, Savannah, Dakota, Madison, and Blake. Although Greg and Meagan eventually parted ways, they shared the custody of their children. With everything seemingly going fine, Greg’s dreams of watching his children achieve success in life were shattered on the fateful day of October 2, 2020.
When his ex-girlfriend knocked on the door of his apartment in the Arrowhead community in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on October 3, 2020, and he failed to answer, she requested the authorities to conduct a welfare check. When the 46-year-old man couldn’t be contacted, Meagan reported him missing. Unfortunately, about a month later, on November 8, his remains were found inside a tarp in the Little Pee Dee River near Pitts Landing off Highway 378. The autopsy report concluded that he had died of multiple gunshot wounds, with two in the left hip, one in the head and chest, and another one in the right thigh. Thus, the missing persons case turned into a homicide investigation.
Greg Rice’s Killer Forced Someone Else to Dispose of the Remains
As part of the investigation, the detectives took a closer look at Greg Rice’s personal life. They learned that he had an unstable relationship with his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his children, Meagan Jackson. Upon delving deeper into her life, the authorities realized that at the time of Greg’s death, she had been having an affair with a former Horry County deputy coroner named Christopher Dontell, whom she met when they both worked at a body transportation company in 2018. Starting off as coworkers and friends, the two got into an affair while Christopher was still married to Erica Dontell in late 2019.
Around the time of Christmas, Meagan even reportedly moved into the same neighborhood as Christopher and befriended his wife and their children. In the following months, Meagan also helped the Dontell family financially. In August 2020, she also allegedly claimed that she was pregnant with Christopher’s child. As for the relationship between Meagan and Greg, it was described as toxic and unstable by their children. According to Meagan, Greg was allegedly addicted to drugs and used to be abusive towards her. On the fateful night of October 2, 2020, she allegedly asked Christopher to drive her to Greg’s apartment complex.
Upon reaching the complex and seeing Greg standing outside, Meagan allegedly made Christopher pull up next to him before firing multiple rounds at her ex-boyfriend. Meagan and Christopher placed the remains inside the car and drove to the Myrtle Beach Funeral Home, where they kept them in the cooler. Within the following two days, the latter disposed of the remains by dumping them into the Little Pee Dee River. In order to appear normal, Meagan informed the authorities about Greg’s disappearance. After the investigators had enough circumstantial evidence against the two suspects through the text messages between them, they charged them with the murder of Greg Rice.
Meagan Jackson is Currently Incarcerated at a South Carolina Prison Facility
In December 2024, Christopher Dontell pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact. In exchange for a lighter sentence, he agreed to testify against Meagan Jackson during her trial. A few months later, in June 2025, Meagan’s murder trial commenced. As agreed, Christopher took the stand and testified to witnessing the defendant shooting Greg multiple times. He also alleged that he had no idea that she was going to kill her ex-boyfriend and claimed that she forced him to dispose of the remains. The defense claimed that the prosecution had no physical evidence against her and that they had coerced Christopher into changing his statement in order to convict her.
On June 17, 2025, after a couple of hours of deliberation, the jury returned with a final verdict and convicted Meagan Jackson on one count of murder in connection with the 2020 death of Greg Rice. After the verdict, the prosecution read out victim statements from two of Greg’s children. Zachary Rice’s statement read, “He says five lives completely shattered, showed no remorse, waited five years for this, just celebrated Father’s Day without him again. I would like the maximum in sentencing, took my father’s life, and I want her to pay an eye for an eye and lose hers.”
In Savannah’s victim impact statement, she addressed the devastating impact that Greg’s passing had on her and the entire family. “My siblings and I have all suffered greatly, not only from the loss of my father but the loss of a mother too, the loss of our lives. We’ve been waiting so many years for just a little bit of closure, and this is it,” her statement read. Ultimately, Meagan Jackson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As of today, the 40-year-old killer is serving her sentence at Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina.
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