Affair turned deadly: The murder of Gregory Rice
In October 2020, devoted father Gregory Rice vanished from his home in Myrtle Beach. His ex-girlfriend, Meagan Jackson, reported him missing after she tried to drop their four children off for the weekend.
At first, his disappearance was treated as a missing persons case, but investigators couldn’t explain why a man with no criminal history, no enemies and no mental health issues would leave without warning. As police retraced his final steps, it became increasingly clear that he hadn’t simply walked away from his life.
With dramatic twists and tales of betrayal, the murder mystery features in our hard-hitting TV series, Murder on Trial, available now on Crime+Investigation.
The murder
In October 2020, Jackson drove to Rice’s home in Myrtle Beach for an arranged visit with their four children. When she arrived, he was nowhere to be found. For those who knew him, this was particularly out of character.
Family friend Ryan Michniewicz later told reporters: 'Greg had the kids almost every single weekend. That’s the one thing that mattered the most to him.'
Jackson reported her ex-partner missing soon after, something that didn’t sit right with investigators. Why would a devoted father and friend leave without saying goodbye? There no evidence pointing towards suicide, either. Michniewicz had actually told police that Rice was concerned for his safety: 'Greg mentioned to me that if something was to happen to him… he didn’t off himself.'
Despite their best efforts, emergency services couldn’t find Rice, and the case stalled. That is, until his body was found floating in the Little Pee Dee River, wrapped in a tarp, weighed down by cinder blocks and with five gunshot wounds.
Exposing an affair
After finding his body, investigators were certain that Rice had been murdered, and the first person they looked at was Jackson. The pair had been married for 15 years before separating and shared four children together, in addition to Gregory’s children from a previous relationship.
However, when questioned, Jackson provided an alibi: Chris Dontell. She claimed she had spent the entire night with her married co-worker, exposing an affair that had been going on for about a year. Both worked at the same coroner’s office.
Investigators then turned their attention to the Dontell family. Before Rice went missing, Dontell’s wife, Erica, said she received some upsetting anonymous texts. One read: 'Think you should know that your husband is having an affair and got somebody pregnant.'
The investigation
The revelation of the affair gave investigators a possible motive. Had Jackson or Dontell or both killed Rice to get an ex-partner out of the picture? As police continued retracing his final movements, the evidence piled up.
Several days before Rice was reported missing, CCTV footage showed the body transport van Jackson used for work leaving his neighbourhood. Investigators also examined his phone records, which revealed he had been home on the night of the murder. Later that evening, he received two calls from Jackson, and phone location data showed his device leaving with her.
Most importantly, investigators traced the tarp used to conceal his body back to a local hardware shop. Surveillance footage showed Dontell purchasing all the materials used to dispose of Rice’s remains.
Trial and sentencing
Police now had enough evidence to arrest Jackson and Dontell, but the case took an unexpected turn. When officers arrived at Jackson’s home, they discovered her children living in horrific conditions.
Their bedroom doors were fitted with alarms and locks that could only be operated from the outside, and their windows were bolted shut. The fridge and pantry also had locks, suggesting that food was being used as a form of psychological control. All four children were placed into emergency custody and Jackson was charged with four counts of unlawful conduct toward a child, as well as first-degree murder.
During the trial, Jackson and Dontell blamed each other for the crime. Dontell pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder and conspiracy to commit murder, but claimed he had nothing to do with the actual killing. He agreed to testify against Jackson for a more lenient sentence.
In June 2025, a jury found Meagan Jackson guilty of murder. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Chris Dontell received a combined sentence of 20 years in prison for his role in the crime.
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