TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Delaware man is accused of murdering his girlfriend and dumping her body in a ditch in Manatee County 28 years ago.
Stephen Ford, 72, lived in St. Petersburg with the victim, Doris Korell, 45 at the time of her disappearance, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
A body, identified one year later as Korell, was discovered face-down in a drainage canal along US-41. Her body had 83 stab wounds and trauma to the neck and face.
The remains were found on Dec. 15, 1996, just days after her daughter reported her missing. Ford claimed Korell drove away from their home to go shopping after an argument and hadn’t been seen since.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office was not aware that St. Pete police were searching for a missing woman at the time. The agencies discovered they were working on the same case when Korell’s remains were identified in 1997.
Korell’s car was found at the Pinellas Square Mall on Dec. 18, but detectives believe it was placed there by Ford and “wiped down.” Her belongings were discovered in a storage unit that was kept secret from her daughter.