Florida Woman Murdered After Refusing Suspect’s ‘Relationship Rules,’ Leaving Investigators Five Crime Scenes to Uncover

PALM BAY, FLORIDA — A Florida man who murdered a woman he met on a dating app, then dismembered and burned her remains across multiple locations, will spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury convicted him of second-degree murder and multiple related charges.

Victim Disappeared After Meeting the Suspect on Valentine’s Week

Prosecutors say 32-year-old Daniel Stearns killed 44-year-old Nancy Howery, a mother of two, after the pair met through a dating app and began a volatile relationship. Howery was reported missing on February 18, 2023, by her ex-husband when she never arrived to pick up their children from school.

Investigators learned she was last seen on February 15, the day she told a friend she planned to meet Stearns in Palm Bay.

Suspect Tracked to Wooded Compound, Seen Attempting to Destroy Evidence

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office began following Stearns shortly after Howery was reported missing. Surveillance led officers to a remote, wooded area known as the Compound, where Stearns was seen attempting to dispose of evidence. Authorities detained him on-site as multiple investigative teams began a multi-day search of the sprawling area.

Remains recovered at the Compound were later confirmed to be those of Howery.

Five Crime Scenes Revealed After Dismemberment and Burning of the Body

According to investigators, Stearns and Howery argued the day she was killed. During the fight, Stearns fatally shot her. Authorities say he then dismembered and burned the body, scattering remains across five separate locations within the Compound.

Prosecutor Samantha Barrett told the court that Stearns was driven by jealousy, angry that Howery was seeing other men and was not, in his words, “following his relationship rules.”

At sentencing, Howery’s ex-husband described the killing as “a savage slaughter,” condemning the brutality of the crime and its lasting impact on her family.

Life Sentence Handed Down, With Additional 22 Years for Related Charges

Stearns received life in prison for the murder charge, along with more than 22 additional years for abuse of a dead human body and tampering with evidence.

The case marks one of Florida’s most disturbing dating-app-related homicides in recent years, leaving behind a devastating emotional toll on Howery’s children, family, and community.

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