Authorities have not released a motive for the alleged murder. Police went to her home and met with a handyman, who said the residents were not home, according to WFLA. At the same time, her boyfriend, Andrew Ridgeway, 46, called the handyman to ask what officers were doing as he had surveillance cameras that could see the activity, police said. He told police that on February 5 she had flown to Jamaica to be with her ill father, and he didn’t know when she would return, police said. However, investigators said Powell’s dad lived in North Carolina.
![[Andrew Ridgeway has been arrested in connection to the murder of his girlfriend Stacey Powell. She was reported missing after not logging in to work for two days]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/02/08/20/57/auburndale-murder-copy.jpeg)
That led police to search her home, where they found her remains. “It was a brutal attack, so much so that we had to wait until this afternoon to get an identification on her because we recovered her body [Thursday] evening,” Auburndale police chief Terry Storie said, according to WFLA. Police have not detailed how she was killed, or a motive for the alleged attack. They continue to investigate. Ridgeway was arrested in Augusta, Georgia, when police spotted him driving her pick-up truck. He was charged with homicide and making a false report to law enforcement.
![[Powell was found dead in her home as police investigated her missing person case]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/02/08/20/32/ba46ef21-57ce-40c6-be89-f4bd996918ec_1920x1080.jpeg)
