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Who was Miranda Corsette? Florida girl, 16, abducted and ‘dismembered’ by man she met through social media app
Police said that Miranda Corsette was “lured through a social media app to meet 35-year-old Steven Gress,” who has now been charged with murdering her.
A Florida teenager was abducted by a man she met through a social media application last month, who possibly dismembered her, St. Petersburg Police Department said, according to NBC News, 16-year-old Miranda Corsette was reported missing to the Gulfport Police Department on February 24. Later, a witness called St. Petersburg police, saying they had information about "a possible kidnapping and homicide" involving the missing teen.
Who was Miranda Corsette?
Not much has been revealed about Corsette. In a Facebook post after her disappearance, her cousin Denean Wetton wrote that the Gulfport Police Department is not helping them because of Corsette’s “shady past.” Wetton claimed Corsette’s mental health was “not ok,” and expressed fears that she was being “exploited, groomed, trafficked.”
Meanwhile, St. Petersburg Police Department opened up about the case on social media. "Through their investigation, detectives learned that 16-year-old Miranda Corsette was lured through a social media app to meet 35-year-old Steven Gress on February 14th," they said in a news release shared on Facebook. "After meeting him the first time, she went home and then the next day she returned to his home, a duplex at 2708 27th Ave. N."
Police said that Corsette stayed with Gress and his partner, 37-year-old Michelle Brandes, at their home. On February 20, a dispute took place, during which she was beaten. Corset may have been killed sometime between February 20 and February 24, following which Gress drove her body to a house in Largo, investigators believe.
"Evidence at the Largo home indicates the body was dismembered, driven to Hillsborough County and placed in a dumpster at 2893 14th Ave. S.E., Ruskin," police said. “Detectives located the dumpster and are working to find the body.”
Police added that Brandes later “turned herself into police” and is in custody. She is being charged with first degree murder.
Gress has been “charged with first-degree murder for the killing of Miranda Corsette,” police said, adding that he “also faces a kidnapping charge in the disappearance of Miranda Corsette.” They further said that this is an active investigation and more charges are expected.
