CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. (WFTS) — A Florida man was arrested after he allegedly neglected his grandmother to the point of death, buried her in the woods and tried to leave the country.
On September 28, deputies were dispatched to 10244 N. Academy Drive in Citrus Springs about a well-being check.
Out of town relatives had called worrying about 79-year-old Ecie Gabrielsen from Dunnellon. They were told conflicting stories about where she was by her grandson, 36-year-old Arthur Miller.
Deputies found the house totally neglected – “full of old garbage, animal and human feces, and an abundance of cockroaches.”
Gabrielsen was not in the home.
Detectives learned that Arthur Miller and his girlfriend, 32-year-old Vivian Gutierrez, had just left family members in Arkansas saying he had put Ecie in a nursing home.
However, he later changed his story and said his grandma had died and he buried her. That’s when detectives started looking at the possibility of a homicide.
On Saturday, detectives found what they said looked like a shallow grave in a wooded area about a mile from the house. The remains fit the description of Ecie Gabrielsen.
Sunday, Miller and Gutierrez were located in Las Cruces, New Mexico as they tried to pass through a border patrol checkpoint.
During interviews, Miller admitted to neglecting Gabrielsen to the point of death and burying her in a shallow grave in the woods.
Both were arrested for one felony count of neglect. Miller was also charged with one felony count of gross abuse of a human body. Additional charges are pending.
“Our hearts go out to Mrs. Gabrielsen’s loved ones,” said Sheriff Mike Prendergast. “This is a sad case to report upon considering the facts, and Mrs. Gabrielsen deserved better.”
The pair will be extradited back to Citrus County in the coming days.
