A Florida man has been taken into custody in connection with the murder of his estranged wife after authorities discovered her body in his storage unit over the weekend.
Cory Hill, 51, is currently detained in the Orange County Sheriff’s Office on multiple charges, including four counts of attempted murder, according to jail records. He’s being held on a no-bond status.
He previously fired shots at his girlfriend and family on 12 November. He was arrested on 13 November, just two days after Shakeira Rucker, 37, went missing.
Authorities started searching for Ms. Rucker on 11 November. The search expanded into Seminole County, Lake County, Polk County, and Orange County, officials said during a Sunday news conference.
According to police, the woman left Orange County and went to Polk County with Mr. Hill before disappearing.
On Saturday, officials searched for the woman at Bob White Airfield in Mt. Dora until around 3pm.
Shortly before 5pm, a 911 call from a Self Storage facility at 2400 Wiggins Road in Apopka reported “a smell emanating from one of the storage units.”
Officials later found Ms. Rucker deceased with apparent gunshot wounds inside a unit belonging to Mr. Hill.
The man is the prime suspect in the investigation, Sheriff John W Mina said during the news conference. The Independent has reached out to the public defender’s office for comment.
“He will be charged with the murder eventually in this case,” Sheriff Mina said of Mr. Hill. “We just want to extend our deepest condolences to Shakeira’s family.
“I can’t imagine the pain and suffering that they have been enduring this past week.”
Officials did not provide a motive. Though the man is not currently in custody on charges relating to the case, officials said that they have plenty of time to continue collecting evidence as he’s prosecuted for other crimes.
Sheriff Mina expressed his frustration over the long manhunt for the woman.
“I want to talk about the pain and suffering that Shakeira’s family had been through. Cory Hill could have stopped a lot of that pain and suffering by talking to investigators in the very beginning instead of putting them through this weeklong nightmare,” the sheriff said.
“The storage unit was registered to him. He had to have known that we would eventually find her in there.”
According to a GoFundMe page launched to raise money for Ms. Rucker’s children, she leaves behind four kids, aged 7, 9, 16, and 18.
