A Florida teen’s disappearance ended in horror after it was learned that she was lured by an older man on social media, held captive, tortured, and ultimately dismembered, police say.
Miranda Corsette, 16, vanished after meeting 35-year-old Steven Gress on Valentine’s Day. According to investigators, she went to his St. Petersburg duplex the next day and never returned.
Authorities allege Gress and his partner, 37-year-old Michelle Brandes, falsely accused Corsette of stealing a ring. They then brutally beat her and “held the victim against her will for more than seven days,” according to a police affidavit. The abuse escalated to a gruesome death. The affidavit details how the couple “stuffed a billiard ball into her mouth and wrapped her face with plastic wrap, causing her to suffocate.”
Corsette is believed to have been killed between February 20th and 24th. Her remains were then transported to another location in Largo, dismembered, and discarded in a dumpster.
“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.”
Gress, already in jail for unrelated charges, including drug possession and allegedly pointing a harpoon at Brandes, now faces a first-degree murder charge. Brandes, who had initially evaded authorities, turned herself in on Saturday and is also in custody.
Both suspects now await trial for the brutal killing that has left a Florida community shaken.
