The body of a Florida woman reported missing on February 21 was found four days later, stuffed into the trunk of car more than 700 miles away in Tennessee, according to the Lebanon Police Department.
The suspect in the death of Anna M. Primavere, 36, turned herself in at the Lebanon police department on Wednesday after Titusville, Florida, police helped them obtain a search warrant for the vehicle.
Fox35 reported that Courtney Dawn Gibson, 27, had been working as a babysitter for the child of the landlord at the home where Primavere rented a room. Gibson also lived in the home, the station said. She reportedly left the state on the same day Primavere disappeared.
Primavere was reported missing by family on Sunday, and when police arrived to search her home, they found a small, developmentally-delayed child, severely bruised and eating dirt while a man identified as Zongmu Wang, 57, stood by. Wang was arrested and charged with child abuse.
While police did not say if Wang was the landlord or if the child was the one Gibson was reportedly babysitting, detectives told Fox35 that they believe a possible motive for Primavere’s death was that she confronted Gibson about the abuse of the child.
“Gibson was captured on a Ring doorbell video driving away from the area of Trinidad Avenue early Saturday morning with a mattress on the roof of her car, a Red Kia Forte,” Titusville Deputy Chief Todd Hutchinson said.
A statement issued after Gibson’s arrest said that the mattress fell off the car, and she burned it by the roadside. When Primavere’s home was searched, her mattress was missing.
“We believe the victim was likely killed in a violent manner in the home between 7 p.m. and midnight on Friday, February 21,” Hutchinson said.
Titusville police contacted Lebanon police in their search for Gibson, whose parents live in the Middle Tennessee city, about 25 miles east of Nashville. Lebanon officers found Gibson and her car at her parents’ home on Sunday, but Gibson refused to allow them to search the vehicle. After obtaining the search warrant on Wednesday, they found Primavere’s body in the trunk and launched a search for Gibson, who turned herself in on Thursday.
Titusville police said Gibson would be extradited back to Brevard County once they have finished putting their case together and sought a warrant for murder, according to ClickOrlando. The station said they were told by police that Gibson would also be charged with child neglect. For now, she is being held in Wilson County jail in Tennessee as a fugitive from justice with a court date on March 5, according to jail records.
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[Featured image: Anna Primavere/Titusville Police Department]
