She sent a text saying she had coronavirus. Then she disappeared, Florida cops say
The Jupiter Police Department is asking for the public’s help in finding more information about a Florida woman who disappeared last month and is presumed murdered.
Her estranged husband, David E. Anthony, has been arrested in the case, but police still need more information.
The last friends and family heard from Gretchen S. Anthony was in late March when they received various text messages from her saying she had coronavirus, was being held by the CDC and being treated at two different hospitals. A witness said one text said she was being put on a ventilator.
Cops tracked down the healthcare facilities mentioned in her messages, including the Jupiter Medical Center and Palm West Hospital. Neither had a record of the Abacoa woman, 51, being a patient there.
Her car with her purse inside was found abandoned in a parking lot in the course of the investigation.
When cops went to talk to her husband, David Anthony, a woman at his home told them she hadn’t seen him since the day before, on March 24, when he retrieved his dog and said he was moving to Costa Rica.
After tracking his cellphone to New Mexico, on March 31, authorities arrested the 48-year-old suspect in Las Cruces.
“While processing his vehicle for evidence, a cadaver dog also alerted on David’s truck,” said the police release.
He has been charged with second-degree murder and kidnapping and awaits extradition to Palm Beach County.
“As the investigation progressed and further evidence collected, it is believed David E. Anthony is responsible for her disappearance and related homicide which was determined to have occurred on March 21, 2020,” reads the post. “Detectives are still actively investigating her disappearance and related homicide.”
Anyone with more details about this case is urged to call police at 561-741-2235.
This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 5:41 PM.
