Tonya Whipp's family hopes second search of fiancé's home will lead to answers about her death

AUBURNDALE, Fla. - A police search for any clues into a woman's homicide investigation will continue into its fourth day on Tuesday. 

Tonya Whipp, 38, went missing nearly a year ago, and the Auburndale Police Department now believe her fiancé, Russell Carroll, killed her.

Whipp's sisters, Donna Martin and Robin Klotzbier, and her aunt, Lisa Textor, sat underneath a tent at the end of Caroline Avenue, the street Whipp shared a home with Carroll. For the third day now, police have been digging through the backyard with a backhoe and sifting through the dirt for any trail of evidence.

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If police do find any signs of her, they want to be the first to know.

This is the second time a search warrant was executed on Carroll's home. The first was in October when Carroll's electronics and cell phones were taken. Evidence from that search helped lead to Carroll's arrest last week. He was charged with stealing Whipp's money multiple times after her disappearance.

He told detectives he last saw her on May 26, 2023, and when he returned home from work, she was gone. It was one of her family members who reported her missing a month later. 

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He told FOX 13 in October that he didn't report her missing to law enforcement because he thought she'd return soon.

"I just worry...I don't know what to do," said Carroll. "I just got out of prison, and now you go missing, so what am I going to do? Now everybody's looking at me like I did something to you. People think I hurt her or did something. It's none of that. She just disappeared. I don't know."

Detectives now believe he is the only suspect in her homicide, but he hasn't been charged.

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Another person sitting with the family waiting for news was Carroll's brother, Preston Irons, who also lives at the home. He had no comment.

The state has requested to increase Carroll's bond from $35,0000 as he served a previous 20-year sentence for attempted first-degree murder, and they believe he'll be a flight risk.

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