Video above: Suspects accused of kidnapping, dismembering Gulfport teen submit not guilty pleas

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The family of a teenager who Florida police said was tortured and dismembered by a man she met on Grindr filed a lawsuit against the platform, claiming a lack of age verification and its location features contributed to her death.

The federal lawsuit, filed in the Middle District of Florida last month, alleged those factors allowed 16-year-old Miranda Corsette to be targeted by Steven Gress, 37, and Michelle Vega, 35, who are each charged with first-degree murder.

The location-based app shows precise geolocation data that indicates how many feet away users are from each other. Representatives of Corsette’s estate claimed that Gress targeted her using this feature.

“Lax age verification” measures – the app asks users to self-report their birth date – allowed her to be on the app in the first place, according to the lawsuit.

“The trauma inflicted upon (Corsette) and the irreparable harm to her family are direct consequences of Grindr’s reckless disregard for the safety of minor children who are routinely preyed upon by adult predators who use Grindr’s platform and design as a trap,” the lawsuit said.

Police said Corsette met Gress on the platform on or around Feb. 14. He picked her up and brought her to the apartment he shares with Vega. The girl was abused for four days over an argument regarding a piece of jewelry, a police report said. The pair was accused of killing Corsette by suffocating her with plastic wrap.

“This final act of violence, suffocating a defenseless minor already broken by days of torture, was the culmination of a week-long nightmare enabled by Grindr’s failure to protect minors,” the lawsuit stated.

Corsette was dismembered with a chainsaw and her remains were bagged and placed in a dumpster in Ruskin, according to police. The contents of the dumpster were transported to an incinerator, which destroyed the remains.

The lawsuit alleges nine counts against the company that operates Grindr, including negligence, wrongful death, participating in sex trafficking and inflicting emotional distress. The company did not respond to a request for comment.