Sources: Lauren Giddings’ garment found in McDaniel's apartment

Potential evidence in the Lauren Giddings slaying investigation sent to an FBI lab includes a pair of the victim’s underwear discovered in her suspected killer’s apartment, sources familiar with the investigation say.

The panties found in a search of Stephen Mark McDaniel’s apartment bear Giddings’ DNA, a source close to the case said Tuesday.

Giddings’ sister, Kaitlyn Wheeler, said Tuesday evening that she’d previously heard rumors that the panties had been found.

“I don’t know how I feel about it,” she said. “Obviously, I do not think it’s good (for him) to have any of her stuff in his possession.”

Contacted for comment Tuesday, McDaniel’s attorney declined to comment on “any kind of evidentiary matter.”

More than 200 pieces of possible evidence have been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Va., in the days and weeks following the late June slaying of the 27-year-old Giddings, a recent Mercer University law school graduate from Maryland.

Giddings and McDaniel, now 26, were neighbors at the Barristers Hall apartment complex across Georgia Avenue from the Walter F. George School of Law, which sits atop Coleman Hill in downtown Macon.

Giddings’ dismembered torso was found wrapped in plastic bags in a roll-away trash bin beside their apartment building on the morning of June 30.

Giddings, who was in Macon studying for the Georgia bar examination following her May graduation, was last heard from on the night of June 25.

McDaniel was indicted last week on a charge of murder and 30 counts of sexual exploitation of children. He initially was arrested on burglary charges July 1, less than 24 hours after Giddings’ remains were discovered.

Authorities have not indicted McDaniel on the burglary charges.

He is being held without bond at the Bibb County jail.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398. To contact writer Joe Kovac Jr., call 744-4397.

This story was originally published November 23, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Sources: Lauren Giddings’ garment found in McDaniel's apartment."