ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A 37-year-old woman was facing charges on Sunday accused of being involved in the murder of a 16-year-old girl in Florida.
Miranda Corsette, lived with her 11-month-old baby and her grandmother and was in home school in Pinellas County when she met her killer on a dating app, police said.
According to the Gulfport Police Department, Miranda had run away from home before, so although she had vanished after a date on Valentine’s Day, her grandmother didn’t report her missing until Feb. 24.
A domestic violence case in St. Petersburg provided clues. On Wednesday, police officers arrested Steven Gress for drug possession and for pointing a harpoon at Michelle Brandes, his live-in girlfriend.
On Thursday, the St. Petersburg Police Department received a tip that Miranda was dead. After meeting Gress, she had been staying in the duplex he and Brandes shared since Feb. 15, police said.
According to St. Petersburg Chief Anthony Holloway, the couple accused Miranda of stealing jewelry from them and there was a dispute on Feb. 20.
“She was beaten and tortured because they could not find this piece of jewelry,” Holloway said.
Detectives believe Brandes and Gress killed her and placed her body in a car, drove to a house in Largo to dismember her, and drove to Hillsborough County to drop off her body parts in a dumpster.
“This is a horrific crime; we are still investigating it,” Holloway said.
Detectives were searching for her remains in a landfill. Gress was still behind bars Sunday. Brandes surrendered to law enforcement on Saturday.
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