A Florida handyman has been charged with murder after a body believed to be that of a missing woman was found in the septic tank of her home, officials announced over the weekend.
According to the Martin County Sheriff’s office, the body is believed to be 57-year-old Cynthia Cole, who was last seen on Feb. 24.
Keoki Hilo Demich, 34, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder after investigators excavated Cole’s Jensen Beach backyard for hours over the weekend and found the body “submerged in the contents of the tank about four feet underground,” the office said in a statement.
According to police, Demich was a handyman who worked for Cole.
Sheriff William Snyder told WESH that doorbell security camera footage showed Demich leaving Cole’s car near his home in Stuart, Fla., the same night Cole was last seen.
When detectives went to search Cole’s home over the weekend, Snyder told NBC that one officer “happened to look down and noticed the cover to the septic tank … didn’t look right,” prompting the search into the tank.
He also said Demich “made several statements that we know are false so he was charged with second-degree murder.”
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“Positive identification of the body by the medical examiner’s office is expected shortly, however, detectives have every reason to believe it is that of Ms. Cole,” the sheriff’s office said in their Facebook post.
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“We will update the community with additional information as it becomes available.”
A post on the police Facebook page last week asked for help finding Cole.
They said she was last seen wearing an orange shirt at the Jammin’ Jensen event in downtown Jensen Beach.
Cole’s friends told WPEC-TV that they knew something was wrong when they didn’t hear from Cole for several days.
“She doesn’t drink. She doesn’t do any of that, so we were all like, she is missing or something is really wrong,” said Victoria Boyd, a longtime friend.
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