AUBURNDALE, Fla. — After two full days of executing a search warrant at a home along Rose Street, Auburndale police called the search.
Officers packed up and cleared the area on Thursday evening. In a release from Auburndale Police Department, the chief confirmed the warrant was executed in connection to a missing persons investigation.
"On July 26, 2023, at 7:15 p.m., the Auburndale Police Department along with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement executed a search warrant at 713 Rose Street Lot #56 in connection with Tonya Whipp’s missing person investigation," the release read in part. "The search warrant concluded today at 5:46 p.m. Tonya Whipp was not located."
FDLE investigated alongside Auburndale police. The chief said any evidence obtained as a result of the search warrant is being examined by the FDLE Crime Lab.
Up until now, police wouldn't say why they were there.
However, the man who lives in the house, Jake Rudy, said police showed up at his home after his girlfriend told them the couple saw Whipp back on June 6.
Whipp, 38, has been missing since May. Her family says May 26 was the last time they were in contact with her. In late June, Auburndale police officially started investigating Whipp's disappearance as a missing person case.
"Every second does count, every day counts and every day that we're not finding her is making it tougher and tougher because it forces us to lose hope," Donna Martin, Whipp's sister said.
Rudy tells 10 Tampa Bay Whipp lived at his house 12 years ago. He's been friends with her for more than a decade and said it is not like her to disappear like this.
Rudy says police showed up around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at his home. Equipped with K-9s, police reportedly wanted to search the house.
Rudy says he welcomed the police inside, adding authorities were searching for what appeared to be evidence linked to Whipp and/or her disappearance. He says he doesn't know where she is and isn't linked to her disappearance.
Rudy said there isn't anything in his home that would make him a person of interest in Whipp's disappearance case. He said police were going through his things inside his house and were digging in his backyard. He said at some point police came back with a search warrant for the Rose Street home and kicked him out.
"There is nothing in my house, in my yard, that indicates anything to Tonya Whipp," Rudy stated.
Auburndale Police Chief Terry Storie wouldn't comment on why they were searching Rudy's house, saying, "There will be more information forthcoming."
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call Detective Chris Wall or Detective Kevin Seymour with the Auburndale Police Department at (863) 965-5555, or if you have information and would like to remain anonymous, call Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS (8477).