Osceola County officials say the woman was the victim of a botched murder-for-hire plot.
The missing Kissimmee woman found dead Monday near a neighborhood street in Ormond Beach was a victim of botched murder-for-hire plot, authorities in Osceola County confirmed late Friday.
Three people are custody in the death and the case is being handled the Osceola County Sheriff's Office, according to various media reports.
The victim is 42-year-old Janice Marie Zengotita-Torres.
The arrested suspects, according to various media reports, are Ishnar Lopez-Ramos, Glorianmarier Quinones-Montes and Alexis Ramos-Rivera.
Based on news reports out of Orlando, Lopez-Ramos is accused of hiring Quinones-Montes and Ramos-Rivera to murder a woman who was dating a man she loved.
During a media conference Friday, Osceola County Sheriff Russell Gibson said Zengotita-Torres' abductors realized "they had taken the wrong person." By then, they had already abducted her from her home, forced her into her car, driven her to a bank, stolen her bank card and personal identification number and withdrawn money from her account, he said.
After they returned to an apartment in Orlando near Millenia Mall, they realized their mistake, Gibson said.
Zengotita-Torres was subsequently murdered and her body was dumped along Bennett Lane in Ormond Beach, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Her body was found by a Spectrum cable worker Monday morning, Ormond Beach police said.
On the same day her body was found, Osceola deputies reached out to Ormond Beach police thinking the woman could be Zengotita-Torres, authorities said. The three suspects were arrested Friday morning.
The body was found by Rick Josey about 8 a.m. Monday and the worker called it in to 9-1-1.
Josey said she was lying in the tall grass off the road. He never got any closer than 15 feet, but noticed the victim's fingernails were painted blue and that's how he was able to determine she was probably female.
"It's upsetting," Josey said. "It's hard to believe someone killed somebody and dumped (her) like that. There are some sick people in this world."
Officer Keith Walker, an Ormond Beach police spokesman, said the case belongs to another agency and did not release further details. Osceola sheriff's officials did not immediately return phone messages.
"The Ormond Beach Police Department will continue to work closely with the Osceola County Sheriff's Office to ensure the (people) involved are charged accordingly for their crimes," Walker said.
All three suspects admitted to taking part in the homicide, authorities said. Osceola County Jail records show Lopez-Ramos and Ramos-Rivera were being held without bail. Jail records for Quinones-Montes were unavailable.
Gibson struggled to control his emotions during his media conference Friday.
"I get emotional because it touches me so deeply that one of our citizens was killed in such a manner," he said.