Woman working as escort found dead in pond and a customer is charged, Florida cops say

A woman found dead in a pond was working as an escort at the time of her death and her final customer is a suspect, according to Florida investigators.

An active duty Marine has been arrested in the case, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said in a Dec. 18 news release.

Tshey Bennett, 26, vanished under “suspicious circumstances” Saturday, Dec. 14, and investigators suspected from the start it may be a case of homicide, the sheriff’s office said.

“The investigation led to the discovery of the deceased body of Tshey Bennett (Dec. 18) in a pond located in an abandoned neighborhood in Mobile, Alabama,” the sheriff’s office said.

“It was determined that (she) was working as an escort and had met the suspect at the Sweet Dreams Inn at the time of her disappearance.”

Willie Ellington — an active duty Marine at Naval Air Station Pensacola — was named a suspect the day her body was found, the sheriff’s office said. The naval air station is about 60 miles southeast of Mobile, Alabama.

Ellington was found over 200 miles away and arrested Dec. 18 in Opelika, Alabama, and he is charged with first degree murder and possession of child pornography, the sheriff’s office said.

Details of how Bennett was killed have not been released and investigators have not said how they linked Ellington, 20, to the crime.

She was last seen around 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, on Plantation Road in the Pensacola area, the sheriff’s office said.

This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 8:56 AM with the headline "Woman working as escort found dead in pond and a customer is charged, Florida cops say."