Florida Man Accused of Murdering His Wife Amid Suspicious Coronavirus Texts

A Florida man has been arrested for the murder of his estranged wife after her friends reported receiving strange text messages saying that she had been hospitalized with COVID-19, authorities said Monday.

Gretchen Anthony, 51, disappeared last month, just weeks after she filed for divorce from her husband, David Anthony, 43.

Police began investigating Gretchen's disappearance on March 25 after a woman told police she'd received a "suspicious text message" from the missing woman. Police say the text said Gretchen had come down with COVID-19, and was being held by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after she was checked at the Jupiter Medical Center. Another witness told police that Gretchen's mother had even received a text from the missing woman saying that she was on a ventilator, due to her coronavirus infection.

When officers went to the hospital to check up on the story, investigators discovered that Gretchen hadn't been a patient there and her blue Mini Cooper with her purse was discovered in the parking lot. Security video later showed a "taller white male" driving the car to the hospital, and exiting the driver's side on March 24.

"As the investigation progressed and further evidence collected, it is believed David E. Anthony is responsible for her disappearance and related homicide which was determined to have occurred on March 21, 2020,” police said in a news release.

Investigators spoke with a neighbor of Gretchen's and learned that there had been an altercation on March 21. The neighbor told police that just after 6 a.m., she'd heard a woman screaming from Gretchen's patio, and a woman yelling, "No! No it hurts!"

A second neighbor told police that he also heard the screams and that he saw David Anthony's truck parked on the road, with the bed loaded and covered with a tarp. Inside the victim's Florida home, detectives found bleach stains on the garage floor, as well as bottles of cleaning agents on the kitchen island and towels in the washing machine with a "reddish substance" that "appeared to be blood."

Detectives caught up with Anthony and his vehicle, a black Nissan Frontier, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and arrested him on charges of second-degree murder and kidnapping. He remains in New Mexico while awaiting extradition back to Palm Beach County.

"While processing his vehicle for evidence, a cadaver dog also alerted on David’s truck," Jupiter police added in the release.

Police are still searching for Gretchen Anthony's body and are asking the public to come forward with any information they may have.

Photo: Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office