Photo used for illustrative purposes. File / AFP

WASHINGTON: A US college student was murdered after getting into a stranger's car that she thought was her Uber ride, police say.

Officers in South Carolina said at a weekend news conference that they have arrested a suspect who faces charges in the murder and kidnapping of Samantha Josephson, 21.

She was last seen by roommates early on Friday in the city of Columbia, but they became separated from her. Worried, they later called police, Chief William Holbrook told reporters.

Officers initially began a missing person's investigation, distributing photos of her talking on a phone on the street, and of a car she was seen getting into.

The driver had "approached the victim... while she awaited transportation, Holbrook said.

"She had in fact summoned an Uber ride and was waiting for that Uber ride to come," he told reporters on Saturday.

"We believe that she mistakenly got into this particular car" instead of the Uber, Holbrook said.

Hunter's found her body in a "very rural" area outside the city later that same day, he said.

Over the weekend an officer spotted the suspect's car and arrested the driver.

Blood in the vehicle was found to match that of Josephson, the

chief said.

Nathaniel Rowland, 24, is in custody.

Agence France-Presse