Boyfriend makes up woman’s trip to Jamaica to hide brutal killing, Florida cops say
The body of a “brutally” killed woman was discovered when police ignored stories of a surprise trip to Jamaica and got a search warrant, according to investigators in Florida.
Stacy Ann Powell, 48, had been reported missing Feb. 6, and it was her boyfriend, Andrew Alan Ridgeway, who said she was in Jamaica, the Auburndale Police Department said in a Feb. 7 news release.
Ridgeway is a suspect in her death and was captured approximately 445 miles away in Georgia, officials said.
“Powell ... had not logged into her work computer since Tuesday, February 4. Officers responded to Stacy’s residence ... and encountered a handyman who had been hired to perform cabinet repairs. The handyman reported, the residents were not home,” police said.
“Andrew claimed he was in North Carolina with Stacy’s grandmother. He further stated that Stacy had taken an Uber to Orlando International Airport on February 5 and flown to Jamaica to visit her ill father. However, investigators quickly determined that Andrew’s statements were false.”
That’s because her father lives in North Carolina, not Jamaica, and he was also concerned about his daughter’s whereabouts, police learned.
A search warrant was executed at her home on Feb. 6, leading to evidence that “Stacy had been brutally attacked and murdered,” police said.
Details of how and when she was killed have not been released as of Feb. 10. Crime scene technicians were needed to make “a positive identification” of the body, officials said.
Ridgeway, 46, was captured around 10:45 a.m. on Feb. 7 in Augusta, Georgia, “while driving Stacy’s Dodge Ram pickup truck,” police said.
“He is currently facing charges in Florida for providing false information to law enforcement and homicide,” police said.
Auburndale is about a 50-mile drive east from Tampa.
This story was originally published February 10, 2025 at 9:52 AM with the headline "Boyfriend makes up woman’s trip to Jamaica to hide brutal killing, Florida cops say."