Korrina Lynne Sagers Malinoski was a hard-working mother who worked at the Oasis convenience store in Summerville, South Carolina, when she mysteriously disappeared in November of 1987, just before Thanksgiving. Korrina always arrived on time on her scheduled workdays, despite taking care of her two toddler boys and her 10-year-old daughter, Annette.
As authorities rushed to locate Korrina in the winter of 1987, it was becoming more apparent that something had happened to the mother of three, instead of her just leaving town of her own will.
Little did investigators know that they would return to the same residence less than a year later for another strange missing person report, involving 11-year-old Annette Sagers.
On October 4, 1988, Annette Sagers was waiting on the school bus when the school bus passed her on Highway 52. The bus would typically go just north of the stop, into Strawberry to make a scheduled stop, and then turn around to pick up Annette.
A detective with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office stated in another news article, “We’ve talked to least one that was a student back then that recalls seeing her at the bus stop,” Kokinda said.
The time frame from when the bus passed her in the mornings to when it came back was typically 15 minutes. However, when the bus returned to pick up Annette, she was no longer there.
Authorities rushed back to the Mount Holly Plantation for a missing child, and were reportedly greeted by the stepfather, who claimed that Kori came back to get her. After all, a handwritten note was left, stating, “Mom came back, and the note was written really hastily.”
Why would a mother only return to get one child? Annette was last seen around 7:00 a.m. waiting on the school bus, which took about 15 minutes to return to her stop. She had plans to go to school on that day. Was the note forcefully written? None of this was adding up to the authorities.
And now you have a case involving two missing persons from the same address, separated by less than a year.
According to the same ABC 4 News article, “Authorities believe Annette’s step-father had a motive. “He started neglecting the kids, and it ended up that Annette contacted the caretaker and asked if he could provide her and the brothers with food because they hadn’t eaten in three days. So, when the caretaker went down there and saw the situation, he notified DSS, and it was at that point that Steven may have figured that Annette may have been a liability,” explained Kokinda.
Did Annette know too much about her mother’s disappearance? It was reported that access to the child by the family members dwindled after Kori went missing, and Annette was never left alone with them, even after demands were made to spend time with her. It appeared that a plan was in place to seek legal custody of Annette. The law states that a family member can file for legal custody of a child after one year has passed. And that one-year date was fast approaching.
A family member had planned to visit the children while she was off work for a scheduled surgery. But, one week before the planned visit, Annette vanished from the school bus stop.
The cases of Korrina Lynne Sagers, Malinoski, and Annette Sagers remain cold. It’s been 37 and 38 years since they disappeared from the Mount Holly Plantation in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. No arrests have ever been made in the case.
If you know her whereabouts, you’re encouraged to contact the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office at 843-719-4465.
Written By: John G. Clark Jr.