PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — St. Pete Police are looking for the body of a 16-year-old.
Police said Miranda Corsette was killed some time at the end of February and her body was disposed of in a dumpster in Hillsborough County.
"It's heartbreaking!" said Bonnie Baker, who lives in St. Pete.
"I'm like speechless…it just makes me sick to my stomach to think it was so close to our home," said Kathleen Randall.
Neighbors who live on 27th Avenue North in St. Pete said they never expected something so tragic to happen in their community.
"I'm just in shock honestly. I mean you hear about that in the movies or in the news obviously…but to hear that is happened two doors down, I'm just really in shock right now," said Randall.
St. Pete Police said 16-year-old Miranda Corsette met 35-year-old Steven Gress at the end of February after connecting on a dating app.
She was reported missing on February 24 to Gulfport Police.
Police said a dispute happened, and then some time between February 20 and February 24, she was beaten and suffocated.
"Her end was not easy…it was not a quick death. It's very sad and very disturbing," said Yolanda Fernandez with St. Pete Police.
Officials said Gress put the teen's body in a car and drove it to a home in Largo. Police said her body was dismembered and then put in a dumpster in Ruskin, Florida.
"For him to have the time to do that…and to even acknowledge to do that to somebody is just sad… and there's definitely wrong with the guy in his head for somebody to be able to do that to a 16-year-old girl," said Randy Walker.
Gress and his domestic partner Michelle Brandes are now in custody.
Corsette has an 11-month-old baby and lived with her grandmother.
St. Pete Police said Corsette's body could be in the Hillsborough County landfill.
Investigators are searching for her body, but said it will be very difficult to find.
"Just how I feel...I can't imagine it being your own family…and so I'm so sorry to the family and my thoughts and prayers definitely go out to them," said Randall.
"My heart and prayers go out to them," said Walker.
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