Remains of murdered Florida mother found by fishermen

Victim’s son says experience has been ‘living nightmare’ for family

Stephanie Crone-Overholts (Tampa Police Department)

The human remains found by fisherman floating in a Florida bay have been confirmed as being those of murdered mother Stephanie Crone-Overholts.

Police in Tampa say that a human leg was first recovered in McKay Bay on 11 November, with other body parts being recovered the following day.

Ms Crone-Overholts, 47, had recently moved from Pennsylvania to Lutz, Florida, and had not been reported missing.

After the grim discovery, police issued a picture of a tattoo, featuring three hearts with the names Sean, Greg and Zach, to try and identify the body.

The victim’s oldest son, Sean, said in a statement that his family was “devastated” to discover she had been murdered.

“This has been a living nightmare. It is unimaginable what she went through. My mother will be deeply missed,” he said.

“Thank you to friends, family and the police for their support throughout this time. We are anxious for justice to be served, and are extremely grateful to all law enforcement who are working hard to do that for our family and bring us closure.”

Police later found an abandoned car that they say is connected to the case, which is still under investigation.

Ms Crone-Overholts grew up and attended school in Erie, Pennsylvania.

A Lutz man told WFLA on Monday that he had met the victim in a McDonald’s parking lot and that she had stayed with him for a few days before leaving.

“I just invited her to stay because I have three bedrooms and two baths, and she was from Erie, Pennsylvania, and I had worked for the city of Erie one time 40 years ago,” said the man, who was not identified by the station.

He added that he had quickly asked her to leave.

“She didn’t spend much time at the house,” he said.

“She would be gone all night sometimes, but she always acted normal, and she was always real good and meticulous about cleaning the house up for me. We talked about Erie and the mall is gone, and yada, yada and that was it and I told her she would have to leave and a day or two later, she left.”

The man said that police had searched his home with a warrant, but he denied any knowledge of what happened to her.

“They got a search warrant, and they took my van, and they’re not going to find anything,” the man said.

“There is no evidence in there. There is evidence that she had been in here probably, but that’s it.”