Father vows safety push after daughter's ride sharing death

Associated Press
Monday, April 1, 2019 12:55 p.m. | Monday, April 1, 2019 12:55 p.m.

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This undated photo provided by the Columbia Police Department shows Nathaniel David Rowland. Police in South Carolina say they’ve arrested a suspect in connection with the death of a college student. Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said at a news conference that 24-year-old Rowland was detained early Saturday, March 30, 2019, and that blood was found in his car.

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This undated photo provided by the Columbia Police Department shows Samantha Josephson, a University of South Carolina student who was reported missing after last being seen Friday, March 29, 2019. The university on Saturday confirmed the death of the student.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The father of a University of South Carolina student killed when police say she got into the wrong car thinking it was her Uber ride says he will dedicate his life to increasing safety with ride sharing services.

Seymour Josephson says he thinks his 21-year-old daughter Samantha would still be alive if she wasn’t trying to catch a ride alone early Friday after a night in Columbia’s Five Points bar district.

Seymour Josephson told students at a candlelight vigil Sunday night to travel in pairs or groups. He says he wants to talk to Uber and other companies about making their cars easier to recognize.

Police say Samantha Josephson got into a car driven by 24-year-old Nathaniel David Rowland thinking it was her Uber ride, and he killed her.