Sheriff: Investigation into homicide continues after woman's body found in Mims
Her face and reports of her mysterious disappearance and death have circulated on social media, including TikTok and Facebook, for days.
Now, after preliminary autopsy findings, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for information in a homicide case involving a 39-year-old woman whose body was found last week in Mims.
Amber Renee Estep, 39, had initially been reported missing Jan. 19, the sheriff’s office confirmed Thursday. A property owner found Estep’s body off of State Road 46, not far from Pit Bull Lane, on Jan. 20. Her body was lying just off the roadway that afternoon, agents reported. An autopsy was conducted earlier this week.
No arrests have been made in the case and homicide agents are working to sort out varying accounts of Estep's last hours before her death.
“There’s been quite a bit of buzz on social media about this case,” Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a post to his Facebook page.
“She was originally reported missing by her mom on Jan. 19 after she failed to show up for work on multiple shifts."
Estep's husband, Brian Estep, who was questioned by sheriff's agents in the hours following the discovery of her body, last saw his wife three days before at a medical appointment, the sheriff said.
Estep told the agent that he and his wife had gotten into an argument after leaving the medical office on Merritt Island and that he was driving her to her mother's home when she requested to be dropped off on Interstate 95, not far from State Road 50.
“Within several hours after our agents interviewed Estep, his pickup truck was found in Port St. John completely engulfed in flames,” the sheriff said.
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Agents, including investigators from the medical examiner's office, are working with the fire marshal’s office to determine the cause of the truck fire and to see if any potential evidence involving Estep's disappearance could be found in the vehicle, the sheriff said.
“Our investigation is ongoing, as agents from our homicide and crime scene units are conducting interviews, examining evidence and working from several different angles to bring Amber's killer to justice,” Ivey said.
The case is the fifth reported homicide to take place in Brevard County since the beginning of the year.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Discovery of woman's body in Mims prompts homicide investigation
