Security Officer Kidnapped-Murdered-Set Ablaze
TAMPA, Fla. June 12 2021– Deputies now say that a missing security guard was taken against her will, murdered, and set ablaze near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
The security officer who worked at a condo complex suspicious disappeared and a relative had reported that her vehicle was at the complex but that she was missing and could not be located.
Investigators do not believe that she went willingly.
Sheriff deputies responded Wednesday at around 8 p.m. to talk to the relative.
About that same time, fire crews responded to a fire near the rest area on the Pinellas County side of the bridge. After extinguishing the flames, they found human remains.
It did not take investigators long to link the two cases.
“Based on identifying markings, and some preliminary investigative information, we’ve determined that this person is likely our missing woman,” explained HCSO spokesperson Crystal Clark.
Clark declined to name the murder victim, identifying her only as a woman in her 30s who worked as a security guard at the complex. Her car was still there when police came to check on her.
Detectives are not yet sure when the murder happened or even how the woman died.
“It may not have been the fire; it may have occurred prior,” Clark noted.
Deputies do have a person of interest in the case, but they are asking for tips as they continue to investigate.
Deputies rifled through a car looking for evidence at the Beach Walk apartment complex, 30 miles from where her body was found Wednesday night.
It’s unclear as to whether it was her car, but deputies did say they found her car at the complex.
“We don’t have to do this to each other,” said Amado Rocamora, who lives nearby. “She seemed like a very nice person, just from what I have seen.”
Deputies could not say if she had a boyfriend or was married, but they do have a person of interest.
