PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A suspect has been charged with second-degree murder in the missing person case of 34-year-old Kathleen Moore, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said.
On Monday, Sheriff Nocco said Collin Knapp, 30, was arrested and charged. Sheriff Nocco said Moore and Knapp had been in an “on-again, off-again” relationship for about five years.
"This is a sad reminder that domestic violence takes place in every community," Sheriff Nocco said.
RELATED: Pasco deputies make arrest in missing person Kathleen Moore case
Sheriff Nocco said when deputies interviewed Knapp prior to his arrest, there were inconsistencies in his statements.
After his interview, investigators say they found bloody clothes belonging to Knapp in a dumpster belonging to his employer, Harold Seltzer’s Steakhouse in Port Richey. According to them, Knapp is a Kitchen Manager at the restaurant and they claim he told them that he went into work at 1:30 a.m. on November 29, to do a “meat inventory.”
PCSO says that the blood and DNA evidence found on the clothes matched Kathleen Moore. Sheriff Nocco said it led to probable cause for Knapp's arrest.
Pasco County deputies are now searching for Moore's body.
"We were hoping he was going to provide information in his interview as one of our detectives described he was very cold even when we were begging him to tell us where her body is, he wouldn't give us that information,” said Nocco, "For Collin Knapp who's in this facility right now. Know that there is a god. Know that he knows all the answers and right now you have the opportunity to do something positive when you have done so much evil, please share with us where Kathleen is so we can do something for the family, so we can give them some type of resolution."
They are also asking the community to call the sheriff's office at 727-847-8102 if they have any information or tips.
Moore, from Largo, has been missing since Nov. 29 when she was last seen in New Port Richey around 1 a.m. near Carmel Ave.
"Though normally very active on social media and communicative with friends and family, Moore was silent after Monday early morning. After she missed work and school, friends and family reported her missing," the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said.
Knapp has had 10 previous felony arrests, nine misdemeanors and has been arrested for domestic violence situations in the past with other victims.
Sheriff Nocco said they are asking the public if they have seen these two vehicles belonging to Knapp, between Monday, Nov. 29 around midnight and the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 30. The cars are a black 2006 Cadillac CT6 with Florida tag Z917XC and a black 2004 Chevrolet Silverado with bed cover with a Florida tag QXLT69.
PCSO says this is a crucial part of the investigation because Moore was last seen alive, getting into the Cadillac. According to the sheriff’s office, Knapp claims he stopped at a 7-Eleven near his New Port Richey home to buy cigarettes that night and he says Moore was in the car at the time. But Nocco said Monday, that surveillance video wasn’t “clear enough” to confirm she was in the car at that time.
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