Florida authorities are investigating the death of a 39-year-old woman as a homicide after her body was found on the side of a highway, the Brevard County Sheriffs Office said Thursday.
Amber Estep was reported missing by her mother on Jan. 19 after she failed to show up for multiple shifts at work. She was last seen by her husband, Brian Estep, on Jan. 16 following a medical appointment in the Merritt Island area, Sheriff Wayne Ivey said.
According to Ivey, Brian Estep told detectives that he had dropped his wife off on the side of Interstate 95 when she requested to be let out of the car amid an argument.
Several hours after detectives interviewed the husband, multiple witnesses in Port St. John reported a pickup truck engulfed in flames.
Detectives later discovered that the truck belonged to Brian Estep, Ivey said.
The sheriff said that a property owner on Saturday found Amber Esteps body on the side of State Road 46, about 5 miles from where her husband had dropped her off.
No arrests have been made. In a Friday email to HuffPost, a spokesperson for the Brevard County Sheriffs Office said that the investigation is ongoing.
In a fundraiser launched to offset Amber Esteps funeral expenses, brother Shawn Leet described her as a sweet and loving young woman.
Nobody deserves to go through anything like this, Leet wrote. The family is devastated by this horrific tragedy.
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