According to WESH, the body of a Florida mother who was last seen on June 3 was discovered days later in a Palmetto “ditch.”
Stephanie Shenefield, 38, was last seen near 16th Street East and 53rd Avenue East, in a Oneco residential area, according to authorities.
According to companions of the mom, Shenefield was expected to attend a live performance and spend the night in Ybor City on Friday. However, the companions she had planned to accompany her were unable to reach her earlier throughout the day.
According to deputies, Shenefield ended up taking an Uber to the Palmetto residence of 51-year-old William Redden, where the two were caught on home surveillance footage spending time together.
Deputies said that Shenefield ended up dead inside the house sometime during the evening.
“William Redding does nothing about it,” Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said at a news conference on Friday. “He does not dial 911, he does not contact authorities, he does not contact anyone.”
Deputies said that at 12:20 p.m. on June 3, surveillance footage managed to capture Redden dragging Shenefield’s lifeless body through the residence and into a vehicle.
Deputies said Shenefield’s “badly decomposed” body was discovered in a 12-foot trench in palmetto close to a field and railroad tracks by two residents out for a walk a few days later.
Deputies said they don’t know how Shenefield and Redding managed to meet.
Redden is accused of abusing a corpse, possessing a firearm while a convicted felon, and possessing an altered firearm (serial numbers removed). He is still being held in the Manatee County Jail on a $108,000 bond.
Sheriff Wells referred to Redden as a “piece of crap” during the press conference.
According to deputies, the 8-time convicted felon was previously charged with cocaine possession, cocaine sale, battery, and driving with a suspended license.
