PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida deputy kidnapped and killed a woman before fatally shooting himself, WFLA reported.
Pasco County deputies received an initial report of an aggravated assault around 5:35 p.m. on Aug. 10, according to the sheriff’s office. The call was later updated to a kidnapping.
The woman and her children, ages 9 and 12, had returned from a day at the beach when they found Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Troy Savetz waiting in the yard, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said during a news conference.Savetz and the woman had been involved in what authorities described as a “tumultuous relationship.”
When she and her children returned from the beach, she and Savetz argued over a TV set, authorities said.
Savetz took the woman’s her phone when she tried to call 911, WFLA reported. The victim then told her children to run outside and call the police.
One of the children identified Savetz by name and told dispatchers that he was a Pinellas County deputy, according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies arrived and secured the children before searching the home. They found the woman’s vehicle, phone and other belongings outside, but neither she nor Savetz was there.
Investigators learned Savetz had left with the woman in a rental car. After several unsuccessful attempts to reach them by phone, authorities began searching for the vehicle. The Florida Highway Patrol, Pinellas and Hernando county sheriff’s offices, K-9 teams, drones and aviation units assisted, CBS News reported.
Deputies eventually found the rental car in the 16800 block of Platinum Drive in Spring Hill. Savetz and the woman were inside, both dead from gunshot wounds. Investigators classified the deaths as a murder-suicide, but have not said when the shootings occurred.
The woman’s name has not been released. Her children were placed in the custody of their biological father.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco stated that the children “did a phenomenal job” in calmly conveying essential information to dispatchers.
Savetz had worked for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office for 14 years and was assigned to the Marine Unit.
