Missing 16-Year-Old Girl Found Dismembered After Meeting Man on Dating App

Police have charged Steven Gress, 35, and his partner, Michelle Brandes, 37, for the murder of 16-year-old Miranda Corsette in Florida

A couple in Florida are facing murder charges after the body of a teenage girl they allegedly met through a dating app was left dismembered in a dumpster, authorities said.

The St. Petersburg Police Department confirmed in a statement shared on Facebook on Friday, March 7, that the body of 16-year-old Miranda Corsette was left in a dumpster nearly two weeks after she was first reported missing on Feb. 24.

Police said that suspect Steven Gress, 35, allegedly met Corsette on a dating app and lured her to meet him at his home in St. Petersburg on Feb. 14.

“After meeting him the first time, [Corsette] went home and then the next day she returned to his home,” police said. Authorities believe that Corsette stayed with Gress and his partner Michelle Brandes, 37, at their home, and her grandmother reported her missing to Gulfport Police on Feb. 24.

During a press conference held on March 7, St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said that Corsette was homeschooled and lived with her grandmother, as both of her parents are deceased. She also was the mother of an 11-month-old baby.

Commander Mary Farrand, the acting police chief for the city of Gulfport, said at the press conference that local police are “very familiar with Miranda” because she “is a frequent runaway and she has a history of mental health issues as well as drug abuse.”

“The grandmother is her primary caregiver at this time. She said she normally comes home, so she doesn’t report her missing every time she leaves,” Farrand said. “She just didn’t come back in a timely manner this time.”

On Feb. 20, police said during the press conference that Corsette, Gress and Brandes allegedly got into a dispute over missing jewelry, and the 16-year-old was beaten.

“So from the 20th through the 24th, she was beaten and tortured because they could not find this piece of jewelry,” Holloway said.

Corsette was murdered sometime between Feb. 20 and Feb. 24, the department added. Investigators allege that Gress put her body in a car and brought her to another house in Largo, Fla., which belonged to Brandes’ mother, Holloway said.

Physical evidence obtained at the Largo home shows that Corsette was dismembered there, according to police.

After Gress allegedly took Corsette’s body to the Largo home, police said that the 35-year-old allegedly drove her remains to Hillsborough County and placed them in a dumpster there.

“Detectives located the dumpster and are working to find the body,” the department’s statement said.

Authorities received a tip from a witness about the case on March 6, and Brandes later turned herself in on the morning of March 8.

Gress and Brandes are both facing first-degree murder charges in Corsette’s death, and Gress is also facing a kidnapping charge.

Police also stated that Gress was already in custody for unrelated charges — as he was arrested on March 5 for allegedly pointing a harpoon at a domestic partner and possessing drugs — while they were investigating.

This is a horrific crime,” Holloway said, noting that police intend to add more charges as the investigation continues. “We want to ensure that we bring justice to Miranda.”