A Florida man, Andrew Ridgeway, 46, has been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of his girlfriend, 48-year-old Stacy Ann Powell. Ridgeway faces charges of second-degree murder and providing false information to law enforcement. Powell was reported missing two days after she logged into her work computer on February 5, prompting an investigation by the Auburndale Police Department in Florida.
On February 6, officers visited Powell’s home to check on her whereabouts and spoke to a handyman who was hired to repair cabinets at the residence. The handyman stated that neither Powell nor Ridgeway was at the home at the time. While the officers were speaking to the handyman, Ridgeway allegedly called him to inquire about the police presence, indicating that he had security cameras monitoring the situation.
Ridgeway told police that he was in North Carolina with Powell’s grandmother and claimed that Powell had taken an Uber to Orlando International Airport on February 5 and then flew to Jamaica to visit her ill father. However, investigators quickly identified discrepancies in Ridgeway’s story, including the fact that Powell’s father lived in North Carolina, not Jamaica, and that her grandmother was in Auburndale, not North Carolina.
Following this, authorities executed a search warrant on Powell’s home and discovered that she had been brutally attacked and murdered. The crime scene was so gruesome that multiple crime scene technicians were required to process the evidence. Investigators suspect that Powell was killed on the afternoon or evening of February 4.
Ridgeway was apprehended in Georgia the following day while driving Powell’s Dodge Ram pickup truck. He is currently awaiting extradition back to Florida to face charges. Anyone with additional information about the case is urged to contact the Auburndale Police Department at 863-965-5555.
