Missing Largo woman's body found near home of boyfriend charged with her murder

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - One week after the disappearance of Kathleen Moore, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office says her body was found in a wooded area near the home of her boyfriend, Collin Knapp, who was charged a day prior with her murder.

On Monday, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said the Largo woman’s boyfriend was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Tuesday afternoon, the sheriff’s office said in a tweet that the adult female body was found in a wooded area, "and covered by thick brush."

By Tuesday evening, the sheriff's office had identified the remains as Kathleen Moore. 

The discovery came Tuesday morning when someone walking near Carmel Avenue, where Knapp lives, smelled decomposition and alerted law enforcement.

On Monday, when Sheriff Chris Nocco announced the charges against 30-year-old Collin Scott Knapp, he said detectives uncovered enough clues to point to Kathleen Moore’s long-time boyfriend’s involvement in her death.

Knapp faces a second-degree murder. Moore was last seen at his home in New Port Richey.

Nocco said on Nov. 28, Moore and Knapp left Largo after being with friends at a bar. The two were last seen together arguing in Pinellas County bars in Largo and Indian Rocks Beach before she went to his home on Carmel Avenue in New Port Richey.

Missing flier for Kathleen Moore (L) mugshot of Collin Knapp (R) from Pasco County Sheriff's Office

Later that night, Knapp was seen at a 7-Eleven on Carmel Avenue near his home. The sheriff said Knapp claimed Moore was in the car at that time, however, surveillance video did not give a clear view inside Knapp's vehicle.

Knapp claimed Moore went with him to his home and left on foot with her backpack Sunday morning, Nocco said, adding that there was no evidence of Moore’s whereabouts during that time or since then. Investigators said there was no evidence of any rideshare companies, like Lyft or Uber, being dispatched in the area during that time.

Investigators said about 30 hours elapsed between the last time Moore was seen alive and when she was reported missing.

Friends reported her missing on Nov. 29. The sheriffs office says they need the community’s help in this investigation. They’re sharing pictures of the suspect’s cars, hoping someone may have seen something. 

According to Sheriff Nocco, friends and family members told detectives their on-again-off-again relationship had, at times, turned violent in the past. The sheriff said his detectives found inconsistencies in Knapp’s story when they began to question him.

Then, they also found evidence of Kathleen’s blood on clothing he’d tried to throw out, he added.

"We found out through the investigation that Collin had some garments of clothes that he had taken to work at Harold Seltzer’s," the sheriff explained Monday. "He puts it in the dumpster there. Our detectives meet up with the waste management people, asked to get all that stuff that in the dumpster brought to a landfill and they got through that."

Nocco said his detectives were "begging" Knapp for the location of Moore’s body, but said Knapp was "very cold" and would not cooperate with the investigation.

Nocco seemed to attribute Moore’s death to domestic violence, based on reports from friends and family accounts of their relationship. Investigators said the couple had been together for about 5 years. 

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call 727-847-8102, option 7.