Man suspected of killing wife in Brevard is arrested in West Virginia

The husband of a missing woman who investigators said was shot in a wooded Port St. John area and then dumped in north Brevard in January was taken into custody by West Virginia authorities, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said.

Brian Estep was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree premeditated murder with a firearm and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of his wife, Amber Renee Estep, 39. Ivey confirmed she had been beaten across the head and shot several times.

Estep is being held without bond in the Mercer County Jail in West Virginia, Ivey said.

The case garnered attention on social media after the woman’s body was discovered off State Road 46 on Jan. 20 and the husband’s pickup truck was found the next day, engulfed in flames, alongside a roadway in Port St. John, investigators reported.

Brian Estep initially told sheriff’s investigators that on Jan. 16, the couple left a medical appointment and were traveling north on Interstate 95.

The couple had gotten into an argument, with Estep accusing his wife of having extramarital relations with other men, sheriff’s investigators said. Estep said that his wife then slapped him across the face and demanded to be let out of the vehicle.

“(Brian) also stated that (his wife) collected her purse and cellphone and walked away from the vehicle, despite his begging for her to come back,” Ivey said in a video statement posted to social media late Thursday.

He described Brian Estep as having a "disgusting evil in his heart.”

“(Brian) additionally claimed he then drove away leaving Amber on the road and did not attempt to contact her for three days,” Ivey said, adding that the husband did not attempt to locate his wife because he wanted to give her “space.”

Investigators said the story began to fall apart as agents obtained search warrants and forensic information that contradicted Brian Estep’s account. The information led investigators to a wooded, mud-packed recreational area, known as the Black Hole, in Port St. John. There, investigators found shell casings and blood in the soil of the surrounding area, Ivey said.

“Further information demonstrated that (Brian) moved Amber’s body from the Black Hole under the cover of darkness and then drove her around north Brevard and south Volusia County until he later discarded her remains,” Ivey said.

Investigators said that at some point, Estep left Brevard County and went to West Virginia. He now faces extradition back to the Brevard County Jail in Sharpes.

J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.