PALMETTO, Fla. — An autopsy report for a Bradenton mother found dead in a ditch found no signs of trauma, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. Investigators are now awaiting the results of a toxicology report to find out how she died.
After 38-year-old Stephanie Shenefield was reported missing on June 6, her body was found in the area of 21st Street Court East and 29th Street East in Ellenton.
Deputies say Shenefield's Uber records showed she took a ride to the home of 51-year-old William Redden around 1:20 a.m. on Friday, June 3. After admitting that Shenefield had come over, Redden allowed investigators to search his house and willingly gave them access to surveillance cameras, according to the sheriff's office.
Redden reportedly told deputies that the cameras didn't store any recorded footage, but unbeknownst to him, surveillance video showed what went down in his house that night.
It showed Redden dragging Shenefield's lifeless body wrapped in a sheet through the house shortly after noon on Friday, June 3, Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said. He is then shown loading the body into a car and driving away, the sheriff added.
Deputies say once Redden learned that the sheriff's office had seen the video, he refused to answer any questions.
After further investigation, Redden was charged with abuse of a corpse, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of an altered firearm. One count of tampering with evidence was later added.
Redden remains in the Manatee County Jail on a bond of $208,000. The investigation is ongoing.
"William Redden is a piece of crap, that's what he is," Wells said last week. "He had an opportunity to call law enforcement, to call 911, to try to save her or to do something to let anyone know."