A Florida man who misled authorities about his girlfriend’s disappearance, only for her to later be discovered murdered in her residence, has been handed a prison sentence.

Andrew Ridgeway, aged 47, has pleaded no contest to charges of second-degree murder and evidence tampering regarding the tragic death of his girlfriend, Stacey Ann Powell, 48. Powell’s lifeless body was discovered in her Auburndale home—conveniently located between Tampa and Orlando—on February 6, 2025, a mere day after she was reported missing. When initially questioned by police, Ridgeway falsely claimed that Powell had traveled to Jamaica to visit her ailing father.

The investigation quickly unraveled Ridgeway’s deceit when officers contacted Powell’s father, who was not only in robust health but residing in North Carolina, not Jamaica.

Based on an affidavit examined by Law&Crime, authorities responded to Powell’s residence for a welfare check the morning of February 6, 2025. A concerned report had come in noting Powell’s absence from her work computer for two days. Upon arrival, officers encountered a contractor who mentioned being scheduled to work on the home’s kitchen cabinets. The previous day, Ridgeway had informed the contractor of an “emergency,” preventing him from entering the premises. The contractor was there to retrieve his tools.

During their visit, officers discerned Ridgeway’s voice through the doorbell camera, questioning their presence upon spotting them via remote surveillance. When asked for his whereabouts, Ridgeway claimed he was in North Carolina with Powell’s grandmother, attempting to persuade her to travel to Jamaica. He further elaborated that Powell’s father was “extremely sick,” and she had purportedly taken an Uber to the Orlando airport to catch a flight to Jamaica to be with him.

Police made contact with Powell’s father, who was in North Carolina and said he was “not sick.” After the police obtained a search warrant for the home, they went inside and came across a bloody scene. Powell was deceased, covered in “plastic and moving blankets.” Her face had sustained so much blunt force trauma that it was “distorted and unable to identify positively.”

Her body had several gunshot wounds and lacerations. Several 9 mm shell casings were found at the scene as well as bullet holes in the walls.

Auburndale Police Chief Terry Storie said Powell had been attacked “savagely,” and the home was so bloody that “not one, two, but three crime scene technicians” were provided to process the scene. Storie said Powell had been “brutally attacked and murdered.”

Ridgeway was tracked down in Georgia and arrested on Feb. 7, 2025.

On Jan. 9, Ridgeway changed his not guilty plea to no contest for the charges of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. He was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to 35 years in prison, with credit for time served.