Surveillance video, family interviews and questioning of a suspect helped detectives reconstruct the final hours of 16-year-old Victoria Perez.
SPRING HILL, Fla. — A search for a missing 16-year-old girl turned into a murder investigation within hours Sunday as Pasco County detectives identified a body found near a roadway and focused on the teenager’s boyfriend, authorities said.
Victoria Perez had been reported missing after she was last seen Saturday night in the Chiloe Street area of Spring Hill. By late Sunday morning, deputies were investigating a body found near Crela Drive. Detectives later confirmed it was Perez and began piecing together a timeline that authorities say led to the arrest of 19-year-old Robert Anthony Timmons.
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office initially issued a missing-person notice saying Perez was last seen around 8 p.m. Nov. 7. Her family reported her missing around 7 a.m. the next day. At about 11:24 a.m., deputies were called to a wooded area near Crela Drive after someone reported finding a deceased person.
Deputies determined the person was Perez, connecting what had begun as a missing-person investigation with the death inquiry. Pasco Sheriff Jeff Harrington said detectives then spoke with the teenager’s family and friends as they tried to determine whom Perez had been with before she disappeared.
Those interviews directed investigators toward Timmons, whom authorities identified as Perez’s boyfriend. Harrington said family members had concerns about the relationship and had been trying to help Perez distance herself from it. The sheriff said investigators were not aware of any earlier violence in the relationship that had been reported to authorities.
Surveillance video became an important part of the investigation. Detectives said the footage showed Perez entering a vehicle driven by Timmons around 1:15 a.m. Sunday at or near her apartment complex. Authorities said the two began arguing after she got into the vehicle.
Investigators allege the argument escalated and Timmons shot Perez while she was inside the vehicle. Harrington said Timmons initially told investigators he had little information about Perez’s whereabouts but later acknowledged picking her up and provided additional details during questioning. Authorities have not said publicly what caused the argument.
After the shooting, the Sheriff’s Office alleges Timmons drove to a nearby area and left Perez’s body about 15 feet from Crela Drive. Investigators also said he disposed of the firearm in a nearby body of water. Deputies and a dive recovery team were still searching for the weapon at the latest update.
The sequence moved quickly from a public appeal for help locating a missing teenager to a homicide case. The Sheriff’s Office had posted Perez’s description and last known location before announcing that she had been found dead. By Monday, authorities had announced Timmons’ arrest and publicly outlined the evidence they said connected him to the shooting.
Timmons faces a first-degree premeditated murder charge and was being held without bond Monday, according to published reports citing jail records. The Sheriff’s Office said the incident was isolated and there was no continuing danger to the public. Detectives said the case remains under investigation, with the recovery of the firearm among the unresolved parts of the inquiry.
Author note: Last updated November 10, 2026.