commentary by Patrick H. Moore
After Heather Elvis’s disappearance in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Dec. 18th of last year, law enforcement was seemingly unable to make much headway in solving the case. I would imagine that foul play was expected all along, though naturally law enforcement, Heather’s family and the Myrtle Beach community held out some hope that Heather would miraculously reappear. As of yesterday, however, the 20-year-old child-woman still had not reappeared, and now it is a fait accompli that she is dead. In fact, on Monday morning, it was announced at the ML Brown Public Safety building in Conway that Sidney Moorer, 37, and Tammy Moorer, 41, have both been charged with the murder of Heather Elvis. Previously on Sunday, the couple was charged with kidnapping. They were also charged with obstruction of justice and indecent exposure.
The kidnapping and murder charges go hand-in-hand. The arrest warrants indicate that there’s probable cause that on or about December 18th, Sidney and Tammy Moorer kidnapped and murdered Heather Elvis at Peachtree Boat Landing.
The obstruction of justice charge stems from misinformation both Moorers gave police on December 20, 2013 regarding Heather and Sidney Moorer’s whereabouts during the early morning hours of December 18, 2013. From a technical standpoint, the false information provided by the Moorer’s diverted resources earmarked for the case.
During their weekend search of the Moorer residence, the detectives apparently found evidence connecting the Moorers to Ms. Elvis’s disappearance that was sufficiently strong — in their opinion — to support the murder charges. Naturally, at the news conference, Horry County Police Chief Saundra Rhodes gave no indication of what the “smoking gun” might be.
It has been reported that the Moorer’s are being held in protective custody at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center for their own safety.
But what about these cockamamie indecent exposure charges? To answer this, a few facts about the Moorers and their relationship are in order. Although they are (were) residents of what is allegedly a god-fearing, Christian community, the Moorers’ lifestyle was the sort that pastors might secretly fantasize about but would never openly advocate. The Moorers were in an “open relationship,” a fact they apparently made no bones about.
In September or October of last year, 20-year-old Heather Elvis reportedly had a sexual fling with her husband, Sidney Moorer. In fact, according to Tammy Moorer, Sidney “banged a hoe 3 times in the backseat of her car and nothing more.” Tammy wrote about it in a Facebook post (see below left):
Based on her choice of words, it is clear that Tammy was none too fond of Heather. Of course, she claims her animus for the younger woman was based on the fact that she was showing signs of being a home wrecker:
“I could care less seeing that I had a boyfriend of my own for the past couple of years, but when someone brings my children into the scenario it’s a whole other story. I will not tolerate anyone hurting my children… I could care less what he screwed around with, but the fact that this jerk is stalking my family is unacceptable.”
So let’s break this down. Based on what Tammy is saying, it didn’t bother her a bit that Sizzlin’ Sidney was “banging” this attractive young woman “in the backseat of her car”. After all, in an open relationship, you have no control over who your partner dallies with. Plus, Tammy was hardly hurting for action considering she had a boyfriend of her own for the past few years.
So, according to Tammy (if we believe her), the sex is not the problem. The problem is that Heather is “stalking” Tammy’s family, which is in no way acceptable to this aggressive and rather outspoken woman.
Tammy is silent as to the particulars of Heather’s “stalking”. Just for the sake of the argument, let’s accept her words at face value. Tammy is furious because Heather is allegedly stalking her children — a natural reaction that any mother might have.
Tammy’s concern over the alleged stalking is not the problem. The problem, assuming the murder charges are valid, is the manner in which this happy, loving couple chose to solve the problem. While it’s true that kidnapping and murdering Heather would certainly put an end to her “stalking”, it’s hard to avoid the fact that it also puts Tammy and Sidney’s children in great jeopardy in the event they are caught.
Now that the Moorers have been arrested, unless other viable relatives step in, their children may find themselves trapped in that most horrible of childhood experiences — the grim journey through the darkness of foster care.
Therefore, I ask, who is the “psycho” here? Is it Heather Elvis who Tammy refers to as a “psycho whore” or is it Sidney and Tammy? Or is it all three of them? And I’m not using “psycho” in the sense of being criminally insane, but rather in a general generic way as in “you freakin’ psycho”.
How many kidnappings, rapes and murders occur annually as a result of sexual obsession? I don’t know but it’s certainly a big number. In every case, there is a victim and there is also a perpetrator(s). Although the perpetrators are not always apprehended, they have been in this case which is why Sidney and Tammy are cooling their heels in protective custody at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center.
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As to the indecent exposure charges, the alleged facts are as follows:
Both Tammy and Sidney indecently exposed themselves twice between December 17th and December 18th. They were apparently together at the time of the incidents, the first of which occurred at 1325 Celebrity Circle in Myrtle Beach. The second time they were cavorting near Atlantic Avenue and Century Circle in Conway. The arrest warrants state that Sidney “willfully, maliciously, and indecently exposed his person in a public place, on property of others, or in the view of someone on the street or highway.”
We are exposed to a lot of weirdness here at All Things Crime Blog and this tragic but undeniably strange case fits right in with the other weird ones. And just in case you have an uncontrollable urge to expose yourself to the masses in public, I suggest that you hold it at that and don’t bother with the kidnapping and murder. Misdemeanors are certainly inconvenient but by no stretch of the imagination do they constitute serious capital crimes.
Click below to view our previous post on the Heather Elvis case:
Myrtle Beach Couple Arrested in Heather Elvis Missing Persons Case