A Active duty Marine was recently arrested after Google searches led investigators in Florida to suspect he murdered a reality TV star and dumped her body in an Alabama pond.
Willie Ellington, 20, who was stationed aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder and possession of child pornography, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Tshey Ronaie Bennett, 26, who was last seen meeting Ellington at the Sweet Dream Inn, was reported missing Saturday, according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities identified Bennett as an “escort” but did not specify the purpose of the meeting.
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U.S. Marine Willie Ellington is charged with first-degree murder and possession of child pornography. (Lee County, Alabama Sheriff’s Office)
According to her Facebook bio, Bennett appeared on the first season of the HollyHoodTV series “Skrippa Bootcamp,” which premiered earlier this year.
The show’s focus was about a dozen “aspiring and elite dancers” living together while working to perfect their craft, according to the show’s website.
Due to the “suspicious circumstances” In connection with her disappearance, investigators assumed that it was a possible murder, authorities said.
Tshey Ronaie Bennett was reported missing on Saturday and her body was found on Wednesday. (Escambia County Sheriff’s Office)
Bennett’s car and phone remained at the inn, but the linens were missing, according to a report from Military.com.
Her body was found in a pond in an abandoned neighborhood on Wednesday Mobile, Alabamasaid the sheriff’s office.
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The report states that Ellington attempted to leave town by bus and succeeded Google searches on his phone “regarding ‘Can someone scream when they’re being strangled? What are the statistics of solved murders of prostitutes…’ and ‘What does a corpse look like in two days?’”
The sheriff’s office had not publicly commented on Bennett’s cause of death as of Thursday afternoon.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida. (US Navy)
The First District Medical Examiner’s Office had not released Bennett’s cause of death as of Friday afternoon.
One of Bennett’s friends, Muranda Newson, wrote on Facebook that Bennett was a mother.
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“I hate that I’m writing this,” Newson wrote in part. “I hate that this pretty boy is hurt. I really, really hate that someone did this to you baby, you don’t deserve this at all.”
Fox News Digital reached out to HollyHood TV for comment on Friday.
