Florida man uses dating app to lure teen, police say

A pair in Florida sits behind bars for utilizing a web based courting app to lure a 16-year-old lady to their home, in order that she tortures and kill them earlier than she dissects her stays aside.

Miranda Corsette’s physique was thrown away in a waste container days after she was lacking on 24 February, in response to the police of St. Petersburg.

Authorities declare that Steven Gress, 35, used the net courting app Grindr to lure Corsette to his home, about 20 miles southwest of Tampa, on February 14.

“After he met him for the primary time, [Corsette] went residence after which she returned to the following day [Gress’] At residence, “stated the police.

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Miranda Corsette laughs in an undated photograph shared by the police of St. Petersburg. Corsette is alleged to be murdered by a person she had met on a courting app, Steven Gress, and his home companion, Michelle Brandes. (Police Division of St. Petersburg)

Grindr didn’t instantly reply to FOX Information Digital’s request for feedback.

The police consider that {the teenager}, who had run a frequent and the mom of an 11-month-old child, stayed in the home with Gress and his home companion, the 37-year-old Michelle Brandes. Ten days after she initially met the couple, Corsette’s grandmother, her main caregiver, reported her lacking to the Gulfport police.

“[Her grandmother] Mentioned she usually comes residence, so she would not report her each time she leaves, “Commander Mary Farrand, performing police chief for the town of Gulfport, stated in a press convention.”[Corsette] I simply did not come again on time this time. “

On February 20, Corsette, Gress and Brandes had a battle a few lacking ring that the couple believed that Corsette had stolen, in response to the police.

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Steven Gress is accused of kidnapping and homicide within the first diploma for the alleged homicide and disintegration of 16-year-old Miranda Corsette in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Police Division of St. Petersburg)

Gress and Brandes would have repeatedly tortured Corsette over the course of some days, in order that she lastly stopped by filling a billiard ball in her mouth and wrapping her face with plastic movie, in response to judicial paperwork obtained by Fox Information Digital.

“From the twentieth to the twenty fourth, she was crushed and tortured as a result of they might not discover this piece of bijou,” stated 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 homicide of Corsette, the authorities declare that Gress has transported her physique to a home owned by Brandes’ mom in close by Largo, Florida. Proof that was discovered on the home indicated that Corsette’s physique had fallen aside earlier than Gress rode the stays to Hillsborough County and he or she put them in a waste container, the police stated.

On March 6, a witness contacted the police to report a attainable kidnapping and homicide with a lacking teenager, in response to the authorities.

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Michelle Brandes turned within the police of St. Petersburg and is accused of homicide within the first diploma for the alleged lifeless of 16-year-old Miranda Corsette. (Police Division of St. Petersburg)

“Investigators have discovered the waste container and are engaged on discovering the physique,” stated St. Petersburg’s police in an announcement.

A consultant of the St. Petersburg police confirmed to Fox Information Digital that the investigation into the homicide of Corsette is underway.

Gress was already in police detention for weapons and drug offenses when the police accused him of homicide of the primary diploma and kidnapping on 7 March. The subsequent day, Brandes modified to the police and was then accused of homicide within the first diploma.

“This can be a basic case of a susceptible younger girl who in all probability requested on-line consideration,” Patrick McCall, a safety skilled at McCall Danger Group, instructed Fox Information Digital. “This consideration got here from a person who had simply hunted her and who instructed her the precise issues, and he or she fell in his fall.”

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Gress ‘and Brandes’ lawyer didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.

“This can be a horrible crime,” stated Holloway. “We wish to make sure that we deliver Miranda justice. I wish to say that we wish to maintain all accountable events accountable.”

The homicide of Corsette involves proceed to make use of as predators Online dating -apps To lure victims till their demise.

In July 2024 a Pennsylvania-Man was arrested as a result of he reportedly used Grindr to satisfy a 14-year-old transgender teenager. Dashawn Watkins, 29, is at the moment confronted with homicide assaults after Pauly ‘rooted stays of Pauly Likens have been present in Shenango River Lake in Clark Borough, Pennsylvania.

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Earlier this yr, a person from Virginia was discovered responsible of utilizing courting apps to kill two girls in 2021. Anthony Robinson is ready for conviction for the murders of Beth Redmon and Tonita Smith, after a jury had condemned him for the homicide of each girls and the dumping of their physique in a close-by forest.

Private safety consultants warn mother and father to observe using their kids’s social media and to search for warning indicators that may point out that they’re speaking to strangers on-line.

“Usually youngsters are prey by individuals who will painting themselves if somebody of their age or similarities categorical them to achieve their belief,” stated McCall. “[Some signs include] Being mysterious with the cellphone, taking cellphone calls, hiding the cellphone, speaking a few new buddy or sudden curiosity in one thing they’d not usually be considering, might relate to the individual they speak to. Often there’s a story or indicators that the kid will slip in dialog or in a conduct that deviates from their regular routine. “