BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) — A Florida woman first went missing before she was found dead, and now her husband has been tracked down to West Virginia and arrested for murder.
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said he is happy with the investigation that ultimately led to Brian Estep being arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Amber.
“This was just pure evil, is the best way to look at it,” said Ivey. “You’re talking about an individual that not only brutally murdered his wife, but also an individual that lied and dumped her body.”
Authorities located Amber’s body on Jan. 20 in a wooded area in Port St. John. Investigators said she was beaten badly and had been shot several times.
The very next day, Estep’s truck was found on fire.
Ivey said the story that the suspect told investigators did not add up.
“This was not what we would really call a whodunit. We knew who did it. We just had to figure out how to get all the evidence together to prove that, you know, he had murdered her,” he said. “The team did a great job, and even our partners up at the West Virginia State Police that helped us up there, everybody pulled together in and worked to make this happen.”
Ivey said investigators now have evidence that Estep dumped his wife’s body.
While he has cooperated with the investigation, at some point, the suspect moved to West Virginia.
“He actually drove up into South Volusia County at times, driving all around, and ended up out off of [State Road] 46, where he dumped her remains,” said Ivey.
It remains clear when Estep will be extradited back to Florida.
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