NC man admits role in disappearance of Charlotte woman and her mother’s death
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Thursday, June 23.
On Nov. 8, 2017, Nancy Rego disappeared on the very same day that her mother died.
On Tuesday, the 5-year-old mystery surrounding the timing of the two events may have been solved.
According to newly unsealed court documents, both Rego, a longtime Charlotte massage therapist, and her 88-year-old mother, Dolores Sellers, were victims of Daniel Printz, a North Carolina man now being described by law enforcement authorities as a “serial killer.”
Three of the identified victims — Rego, Sellers and Leigh Goodman of Gaston County — had Charlotte-area ties.
The fourth, Edna Suttles, 80, was from Travelers Rest, S.C., near Greenville. Her body was found last month in Rutherfordton, about 75 miles west of Charlotte. Rego, who was 66 at the time of her disappearance, remains missing.
Others may be out there. According to the criminal complaint in the case, Printz, 59, said he “could relay details of five different individuals.”
According to federal prosecutors, Printz’s criminal history includes a 1997 conviction from Michigan for kidnapping another woman, and was given a 13- to 30-year sentence. He was released in 2009 and his parole ended in 2011.
In Spartanburg on Tuesday afternoon, as the families of some of his victims watched, U.S. District Judge Donald Coggins sent Printz back to prison — this time for life.
“Printz is a monster who has a long history of targeting, kidnapping, and killing women — causing unimaginable loss to his victims and their families,” said U.S. Attorney Corey F. Ellis for the District of South Carolina. “He has earned every day of his life sentence.”
In an unusually worded court filing that became public Tuesday morning, Printz pleaded guilty earlier in the day to one count of kidnapping resulting in death in connection with Suttles’ killing. She was last seen alive in Travelers Rest with Printz in late August.
Investigators believe Printz slipped heavy medication into a yogurt cup to drug Suttles, then later suffocated her with a plastic bag.
Under the same plea agreement, Printz acknowledged that he “has responsibility or some role” in the deaths and/or disappearances of Rego, Sellers and Goodman.
The federal kidnapping charge carries a mandatory life sentence without parole. Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Carolina could have sought the death penalty but did not do so given Printz’s cooperation with the investigation, the plea agreement states.
Affidavit: Rego, Printz in relationship
The search for Suttles soon intersected with Rego and Sellers.
During a September 2021 raid on Printz’s home as part of the Suttles’ investigation, detectives with the Greenville County (S.C.) Sheriff’s Office discovered Rego’s driver’s license and passport.
According to an FBI affidavit in the case, Rego’s family said she had entered a relationship with Printz before vanishing. For a time, family members texted and emailed with a person who purported to be Rego but refused to meet or speak with them, the affidavit claims.
Investigators believe Printz collected Rego’s Social Security payments for years after her disappearance. The regular debits on Rego’s account stopped after Printz’s arrest, an FBI affidavit says.
Printz’s also was at the wheel when Rego’s car was involved in a wreck in June 2018. The vehicle was never picked up and eventually auctioned.
After Printz’s arrest last year following Suttles’ disappearance, Rego’s debit card was found in his wallet. Investigators say Printz told them he held Rego’s power of attorney.
A subsequent search of Printz’s residence by the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office found even more links to Rego, including bank statements, credit cards and a wallet belonging to her mother, court records show.sDuring the same search, authorities also found a small black bag that held zip ties, a Taser and crushed pills in a small plastic bag labeled “Ativan,” a powerful anti-anxiety medication, the affidavit claims.
In an Oct. 13 interview with investigators in which he said he wanted to “purge himself” of his sins, Printz hinted at multiple killings, according to the FBI agent’s affidavit.
In one example, Printz said he “hypothetically” helped a friend euthanize a family member, then apparently killed the friend when the friend had feelings of remorse and was going “to tell.”
Nancy Rego’s friend asks, ‘What if?’
Lisa Jones, a longtime friend of Rego’s who teaches history at both Central Piedmont Community College and Johnson & Wales University, says the two met at a SouthPark spa where Rego worked as a massage therapist. She described Rego as kind, considerate and an adventurous world traveler who had helped Jones get through cancer.
“I don’t want her remembered only as a victim of crime. She deserves better than that,” Jones, a former probation and parole officer in South Carolina, told The Charlotte Observer last month.
Jones says she’s never believed that the almost identical timing of Rego’s disappearance and her mother’s death was coincidental. But she strongly pushes back on any notion that Rego is the so-called “friend” in the FBI affidavit who wanted Printz’s help euthanizing a family.
“I would say the telling of that story was his attempt to justify his actions in his own mind,” Jones said. “Nancy took care of her mom. She wanted to. Anybody who knew Nancy knows she would not have done anything to hurt her. To say it would be out of character would be an understatement.”
After a 20-year friendship, Jones said she and Rego drifted apart in 2017 as Jones focused on beating cancer. Rego was at a crossroads of her own, preparing to change course and leave Charlotte, Jones recalled.
On June 30, 2017, Jones emailed Rego, apologizing for being out of touch.
“I am the one who has been neglectful, certainly not you,” Rego responded. “I am so glad you have completed your radiation treatment and can now begin to heal.”
Rego confided that she had found her mother an apartment and was temporarily living with her until Sellers settled in. Rego had put her own house for sale, “and as soon as it does, I will probably be moving.” She did not say where.
“We both left it that if we wanted to reach out, we would. If not, we wouldn’t. It was sort of ‘I hope she’s happy and that’s that,”’ Jones said.
“In hindsight, I wish I had reached out. Would it have made a difference? I don’t know. It felt like she was moving away from that part of her life. Some part of that message suggested that she didn’t plan to stay in touch. I hoped that she’d be happy and be able to take care of herself and her family.”
Jones says she later shared her last emails with Rego with the FBI.
This story was originally published June 21, 2022 at 5:21 PM.
