A few in Florida is behind bars to use an online dating app to lure a 16-year-old girl to their house, torture and murders Her before she left her.
Miranda Corsette’s body was thrown away in a waste container days after she was missing on 24 February, according to the police of St. Petersburg.
Authorities claim that Steven Gress, 35, used the online dating -app Grindr to lure Corsette to his house, approximately located 20 miles southwest of Tampaon February 14.
“After she met him for the first time, (Corsette) went home and the next day she returned to (gress’) at home,” the police said.
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Miranda Corsette laughs in an undated photo shared by the police of St. Petersburg. Corsette is said to be murdered by a man she had met on a dating app, Steven Gress, and his domestic partner, Michelle Brandes. (Police Department of St. Petersburg)
Grindr did not immediately respond to FOX News Digital’s request for comments.
The police believe that the teenager, who had run a frequent and the mother of an 11-month-old baby, stayed in the house with Gress and his domestic partner, the 37-year-old Michelle Brandes. Ten days after she initially met the couple, Corsette’s grandmother, her primary caregiver, reported her missing on the Gulfport police.
“(Her grandmother) said she normally comes home, so she does not report her every time she leaves,” said commander Mary Farrand, acting police chief for the city of Gulfport, in a press conference. “(Corsette) just did not return this time.”
On February 20, Corsette, Gress and Brandes had a fight about a missing ring that the couple believed that Corsette had stolen, according to the police.
Steven Gress is accused of kidnapping and murder in the first degree for the alleged murder and disintegration of 16-year-old Miranda Corsette in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Police Department of St. Petersburg)
Gress and Brandes would have repeatedly tortured Corsette over the course of a few days, so that she finally stopped by filling a billiard ball in her mouth and wrapping her face with plastic film, according to judicial documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
“From the 20th to the 24th, she was beaten and tortured because they could not find this piece of jewelry,” said the police chief of St. Petersburg Anthony Holloway.
Authorities are of the opinion that Corsette was killed between February 20 and February 24.
After the murder of Corsette, the authorities claim that Gress has transported her body to a house owned by Brandes’ mother in nearby Largo, Florida. Proof that was found at the house indicated that Corsette’s body had fallen apart before Gress rode the remains to Hillsborough County and she put them in a waste container, the police said.
On March 6, a witness contacted the police to report a possible kidnapping and murder with a missing teenager, according to the authorities.
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Michelle Brandes turned in the police of St. Petersburg and is accused of murder in the first degree for the alleged dead of 16-year-old Miranda Corsette. (Police Department of St. Petersburg)
“Investigators have found the waste container and are working on finding the body,” said St. Petersburg’s police in a statement.
A representative of the St. Petersburg police confirmed to Fox News Digital that the investigation into the murder of Corsette is underway.
Gress was already in police detention for weapons and drug offenses when the police accused him of murder of the first degree and kidnapping on 7 March. The next day, Brandes changed to the police and was then accused of murder in the first degree.
“This is a classic case of a vulnerable young lady who probably asked online attention,” Patrick McCall, a security expert at McCall Risk Group, told Fox News Digital. “This attention came from a man who had easily hunted her and who told her the right things, and she fell in his fall.”
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Gress ‘and Brandes’ lawyer did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
“This is a horrible crime,” said Holloway. “We want to ensure that we bring Miranda justice. I want to say that we want to hold all responsible parties responsible.”
The murder of Corsette comes to continue to use as predators Online dating -apps To lure victims until their death.
In July 2024, A Pennsylvania -Man was arrested, Grindr reportedly used to meet a 14-year-old transgender teenager. Dashawn Watkins, 29, is currently confronted with murder attacks after Pauly ‘rooted remains of Pauly Likens were found in Shenango River Lake in Clark Borough, Pennsylvania.
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Earlier this year, A man from Virginia was found guilty From the use of dating apps to kill two women in 2021. Anthony Robinson is waiting for conviction for the murders of Beth Redmon and Tonita Smith, after a jury had convicted him for killing both women and dumping their bodies in a nearby wooded area.
Personal safety experts warn parents To keep an eye on the use of social media of their children and to look for warning signals that can indicate that they are talking to strangers online.
“Often teenagers are prey by people who will portray themselves if someone of their age or similarities express them to gain their trust,” said McCall. “(Some signs include) his secret with the phone, taking phone calls outside, hiding the phone, talks about a new friend or sudden interest in something that they would normally not be interested in the person with whom they talk. There is usually a story or sign that the child will slip in a conversation or in a behavior that deviates from their normal routine.”
