GULPORT, Fla. – Gulfport detectives have made an arrest in the 2020 Pinellas Trail homicide investigation.
Police say that continued collaborative efforts between the Gulfport Police Department and the St Petersburg Police Department have identified a suspect in this case.
On May 26, the suspect, identified as Andy R. Bryant, was arrested.
He was charged with Arson and Abuse of a Dead Human Body. Homicide charges were not brought against Bryant because the investigation, coupled with the autopsy and toxicology reports, did not support that charge, police say.
The victim was Jesus Manuel Tavarez-Soto, and his 2014 black Nissan Sentra, were found burned
A cyclist discovered the burned car at 6 a.m., Monday, September 21, 2020, on the Skyway Trail of the Pinellas Trail Network, near the Twin Brooks golf course.
The investigation supported the fact that the victim died from other means and that Bryant disposed of the body by placing it in the trunk of the vehicle and burning them both. Bryant confessed to Gulfport detectives of locating the victim deceased and disposing of the body in the above manner.
Based on the condition of the skeletal remains found in the trunk, no evidence was identified showing trauma at or around the time of death according to the forensic anthropologist.
At this time, the medical examiner’s office has listed the cause and manner of death as undetermined.
Bryant is currently being held in the Pinellas County Jail with a $500,000 bond.
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