KEY LARGO, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida man was arrested after deputies found a missing woman’s body hidden in his resort hotel room Tuesday, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office announced.
On Monday morning, officials responded to the Amoray Dive Resort in Key Largo regarding a missing Key Largo woman, identified as 43-year-old Nadyne Marie Tillman, after her family had not heard from her since Saturday.
Investigators discovered Tillman had met with 33-year-old Dylan Lamb on Saturday morning at the resort.
The woman’s body was found hidden in the closet housing the water unit in Lamb’s room with injuries consistent with being beaten, the sheriff’s office said.
According to Miami news outlet WPLG, deputies said the woman suffered two black eyes, swollen and lacerated lips and other facial trauma consistent with blunt force impact, and was partially clothed in a fetal position.
NBC affiliate WTVJ spoke to hotel guests who stayed in the room next to Lamb’s.
“Her poor daughter came around looking and knocking on everyone’s door … and from my understanding tracked her mom to this location and found her car, and had been missing for a couple days and no contact with her,” the woman said. “It’s just scary. It’s too close to home.”
The witness told the outlet that deputies took one step in, left the room and returned with the crime scene unit.
The hotel’s assistant general manager told WPLG that Lamb had booked the room using his mother’s phone number. The report said that when an employee tried to get Lamb to move rooms, he refused by communicating through the closed door.
According to the news outlet, after Lamb checked out of the room Sunday morning, housekeeping discovered three large trash bags filled with soiled towels and bed sheets, describing the contents as “heavily staining with substances consistent with blood, urine and feces.”
Lamb was found and arrested Tuesday for Tillman’s death. WTVJ reported Lamb is facing additional charges, including kidnapping.
The report from WPLG said Tillman had told a man she had “arranged a date with someone she met through a non-dating website” at the resort. Lamb reportedly told detectives they met off the escort site ListCrawler and agreed to pay her $200 for sex. Tillman allegedly took the money without engaging in the “agreed activity.”
Investigators told WLPG that Lamb blocked the woman from leaving and struck her unconscious. Lamb claimed to have “freaked out” after discovering she wasn’t breathing. Instead of calling 911, he decided to clean the scene and conceal her body in the closet.
“I want to thank the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office for working around the clock to make an arrest in this case,” Sheriff Rick Ramsay said. “While the investigation remains ongoing, there do not appear to be any other individuals involved in this incident.”
NewsNation affiliate WFLA has reached out to the sheriff’s office for additional information.