SPARTANBURG, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - After the search for a missing Greenville County woman ended in a grisly discovery in western North Carolina, a suspect has been sentenced to life in prison for her kidnapping and death.

Edna Suttles, 80, was reported missing from Greenville County in August 2021.

Federal investigators have been involved in the search for Suttles and a federal search warrant unsealed in March shows detectives found surveillance video of suspect Daniel Printz getting into her Jeep at the Food Lion in Travelers Rest on the day she went missing.

The warrant said Suttles’ belongings including a purse and her Jeep keys were found hidden in a bee box on Printz’s property on Kiser Road in Rutherford County. In the bee box, investigators say they also found rope, zip ties and rubber gloves.

In May, her body was found in a wooded area off of Harris Holly Springs Road in Rutherfordton, NC.

According to a new federal criminal complaint that was unsealed on Tuesday, federal agents say Printz has a prior conviction for kidnapping in Michigan and is a person of interest in other the disappearances of other elderly women.

Investigators say they identified Printz through his Food Lion frequent shopper card.

According to the court documents, when investigators initially questioned Printz about Suttles, he told them he was a handyman and considered Suttles a friend but denied involvement in her disappearance.

In October 2021, a cadaver dog was brought to Printz’s property and alerted to a strong scent of human decomposition on a vehicle panel from Suttles’ car and Printz’s wife’s car, which they say he used in kidnapping Suttles.

At Printz’s home, investigators say they found pill bottles for cyclobenzaprine, tramadol and lorazepam that were prescribed to 66-year-old Nancy Rego, a woman missing out of Charlotte. A yogurt container found in the bee box with Suttles’ belongings that was bought at the Travelers Rest Food Lion on the day she disappeared tested positive for these drugs, according to federal investigators,

Federal investigators say that after kidnapping and drugging Suttles, Printz zip-tied her and suffocated her with a bag.

Printz was captured on surveillance video moving Suttles, who was motionless, to his wife’s vehicle outside the Food Lion in Travelers Rest and wiping down Suttles’ Jeep, according to the court documents.

When Printz was questioned again in October, he told investigators he wanted to come clean about his “sins” and would relay details to a defense attorney about the deaths of five different people.

Printz appeared in court in Spartanburg County on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to kidnapping resulting in the death of Suttles, a grandmother of six and great-grandmother of 12.

During Tuesday’s hearing, he was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay $35.7K in restitution.

Printz briefly addressed the judge and the family members of the victims, saying he was sorry and asked for forgiveness although admitting his apology cannot undo what he has done.

As part of the plea agreement, Printz admitted to three other deaths in addition to Suttles’, those women named were Nancy Rego, Dolores Sellars, and Leigh Goodman. During the hearing, nine family members of the four victims spoke throughout the day.

One of the other victims mentioned during the hearing was Rego. According to the court records, Printz was listed as having power of attorney for Rego’s bank account, which continued to receive Social Security deposits and had transactions almost every day after her disappearance.

All daily transactions on Rego’s bank account stopped after Printz was arrested, according to the FBI.

Rego’s family has received emails from someone claiming to be her since she disappeared, but the person always declined to meet or speak with the family.

A person who used to be in a relationship with Printz told FOX Carolina’s sister station WBTV, “I was never surprised. Of course I was shocked that someone, you know, could do such a thing. But it didn’t surprise me in the end.”

The person from Printz’s past said he had previously killed a neighbor’s dog.

“He would just love to show off. He would just progress from one thing to the next,” the person told WBTV. “He does not need to be out.”

The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office has scheduled a press conference with other agencies for 10 a.m. Wednesday morning where they are expected to release more details in the investigation.

Stay with FOX Carolina for updates on this developing story.

Copyright 2022 WHNS. All rights reserved.