Husband shot wife, dumped her body and left the state, Florida cops say. He’s arrested
Two months after Amber Estep was found shot dead on the side of a Florida road, her husband has been arrested states away and charged with murder, authorities said.
Brian Estep, 42, was taken into custody in West Virginia on March 28, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office announced that day.
The charges are the result of an investigation that began in January, when 39-year-old Amber Estep disappeared.
Amber Estep was last seen with her husband on Jan. 16 after the two went to a doctor’s appointment in central Florida, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in video update posted to Facebook.
The couple was driving north along Interstate 95 when Brian Estep said he accused her of having affairs with multiple men, the sheriff said.
He told authorities she slapped him and demanded to be let out of the truck, even as he begged her not to get out, according to Ivey.
Amber Estep’s mother reported her missing on Jan. 19 after she hadn’t been in contact with her daughter and the woman had missed multiple shifts at work, McClatchy News previously reported.
When investigators spoke with Brian Estep that day, he told them he hadn’t tried to contact his wife in three days ”to give her space,” according to Ivey.
Hours later, his truck was found engulfed in flames, the sheriff said.
The day after Amber Estep was reported missing, she was found dead on the side of a road with head trauma and gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner.
Information led investigators deep in the woods to an area known as the “black hole,” where Ivey said investigators found Amber Estep’s blood and projectiles in the dirt.
Ivey said Brian Estep killed his wife there then drove around with her body in the dark before dumping her in Mims.
As authorities worked to learn what had happened to Amber Estep, her husband moved from Titusville to West Virginia, where he was taken into custody a little more than two months after her death, Ivey said.
The man will be extradited back to Brevard County. He’s currently being held in a West Virginia jail without bond.
Amber Estep’s family suspected her husband was involved in her death from the beginning, with her brother later saying “we knew it all along.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you sis,” her brother Shawn Leet wrote on Facebook after the news broke of Brian Estep’s arrest. “This should’ve never happened.”
Brian Estep is charged with first-degree premeditated murder with a firearm and tampering with evidence relating to a capital felony, deputies said.
Brevard County lies along the east coast of Florida, about a 50-mile drive southeast of Orlando.
This story was originally published April 2, 2024 at 10:14 AM with the headline "Husband shot wife, dumped her body and left the state, Florida cops say. He’s arrested."