'No regrets' for Greensburg police in all-out search for 'missing' couple

Despite an around-the-clock push to locate a Greensburg-area couple who appeared to vanish late last week becoming all for naught after police discovered the pair was in South Carolina on a “spontaneous vacation,” city police said they have no regrets in how they handled the situation.

“It was the result we all were hoping for … everybody was safe. Given the exact same set of circumstances, we’d investigate it the same way again,” Greensburg police Capt. Robert Stafford said. “We’re police. That’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Investigators located Amanda Caldwell, 29, of Greensburg and Joseph Zyvith, 30, of Hempfield in the small town of Harleyville, S.C., Friday afternoon, just hours after investigators discovered Caldwell’s credit cards were used to purchase gas along Interstate 77 in Virginia and Columbia, S.C.

Caldwell’s family and co-workers at Senior Life in Greensburg had reported her missing Thursday because she did not come to work. Caldwell’s phone was found in her apartment, and those who knew her said it was unusual for her to be without the phone, police said.

Zyvith had called off work at General Carbide in Hempfield at 12:45 a.m. Thursday, police said.

His family also reported him missing.

Stafford admitted police were aware of some skepticism posted on social media regarding police urgency to locate two adults, but he defended the multiple inter-agency efforts. The probe included contacting law enforcement agencies in multiple jurisdictions, including Potter County, where Zyvith’s family maintains a hunting cabin, and in Virginia and South Carolina, acquiring multiple search warrants to search residences, Zyvith’s vehicle and to obtain multiple surveillance videos, and conducting family and co-worker interviews.

“Can you imagine if we didn’t do anything and something bad occurred? I know our two detectives, Charles Irvin and John Swank, worked around the clock on it,” Stafford said. “Like I said, we’re police, and that’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Police had been tracking the use of Caldwell’s credit card, and authorities tracked the pair to Harleyville when a credit card had been used at a local business, police reported. Harleyville is about 50 miles northwest of Charleston.

Zyvith’s vehicle was found behind Caldwell’s South Maple Avenue residence with blood on the steering wheel, which raised some suspicions with investigators. Zyvith apparently had cut himself, police said.

Neither Caldwell’s or Zyvith’s families have responded to attempts seeking comment. A message left on Zyvith’s cellphone Monday was not immediately returned.

However, Caldwell and Zyvith are apparently enjoying their impulsive getaway, with Zyvith posting photos Monday on Facebook of the couple relaxing on an unspecified beach.

Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@tribweb.com or via Twitter @ppeirce_trib.