[1] Bell joined the United States Marine Corps in 1970 but was discharged the same year due to a knee injury suffered when he accidentally shot himself when cleaning a gun.

[1] Bell kidnapped 17-year-old Sharon Faye Smith at gunpoint from the end of her driveway on Platt Springs Road in Lexington County, South Carolina on May 31, 1985.

Her body was found in Saluda County, South Carolina after Bell called the Smith family and gave them directions to her remains.

[3][4] Then, on June 14, Bell kidnapped 9-year-old Debra May Helmick near Old Percival Road in Richland County, South Carolina, killed her, and again called the Smith family to tell them where he had left her body.

The main suspect in Sandee's disappearance is Bell who was reportedly her previous boyfriend's co-worker at Charlotte Douglas International Airport and had attended a party at her home.

[8][9] During the largest manhunt in South Carolina history, Bell made eight telephone calls to the Smith family, often speaking with Shari's sister Dawn.

[1][10] On June 27, 1985, Bell was arrested after forensics was able to find indentations of an incomplete phone number on the stationery of the letter that was sent to Smith's family.

Filling in the missing digits led the Federal Bureau of Investigation to a couple who hired Bell for some work and had him house sit for them while they were away.