NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (WFLA) — Deputies with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office made an arrest Monday night in connection with the disappearance of Kathleen Moore.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco announced Moore’s boyfriend Collin Knapp is charged with second-degree homicide in connection with Moore’s disappearance.
Nocco said the couple was seen out together Nov. 28 at bars in Largo and Indian Rocks Beach, both of which are south of Pasco County in the Tampa Bay area. They were seen arguing there, and eventually wound up at Knapp’s residence, according to the sheriff’s office.
“We have no evidence we have that she actually left that residence,” the sheriff said.
According to Sheriff Nocco, detectives have been pleading with Knapp to reveal where her body is and have described him as “very cold.”
Sheriff Nocco said deputies recovered clothing with blood evidence at the county landfill in a dumpster that came from Harold Seltzer’s Steakhouse in Port Richey where Knapp works. The blood evidence matched Moore, he said.
“They were digging through the dirt. They were constantly going through it,” he said.
Moore’s body has not yet been located but deputies said the blood and DNA evidence they found, along with inconsistent statement from Knapp, led to probable cause for his arrest.
Deputies are now asking anyone who has seen a black 2006 Cadillac CT6 with Florida tag Z917XC or a black 2004 Chevrolet Silverado with bed cover with a Florida tag QXLT69 between approximately midnight on Monday, Nov. 29 and the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 30 to call 727-847-8102, option 7.
Knapp has a history of domestic violence with other women and has been arrested for 10 felonies as well as nine misdemeanors, according to jail records and the sheriff’s office.
Moore was reported missing last week. Deputies say the 34-year-old woman was last seen around 1 a.m. on Nov. 29 in the Carmel Avenue area of New Port Richey.
Friends told 8 On Your Side they last spoke with her Sunday after Thanksgiving and that she was last seen waiting for an Uber outside her boyfriend’s home in New Port Richey. Deputies searched that home on Friday night, as well as the Pasco County landfill in Spring Hill.
The sheriff’s office previously confirmed Moore’s cell phone was recovered. Friends told 8 On Your Side a homeless man found it in a dumpster at a Walgreens near where she was last seen.
Moore’s friends distributed flyers throughout their community on Sunday begging for help in finding out what happened to her.
If you or someone you know are experiencing abuse and need help, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE. Sunrise in Pasco County also has a hotline (352-521-3120) and more resources on their website, www.sunrisepasco.org
