Who Was Tricia Todd & What Happened to Her? 2026 Update & Profile

Tricia Todd was a mother, U.S. Air Force veteran and hospice nurse from Hobe Sound, Florida, whose disappearance in April 2016 triggered a large search and one of the most disturbing murder investigations in Martin County.

She was raising a 2-year-old daughter after separating from her husband, Steven Williams, when she vanished.

Her family knew something was wrong when Tricia failed to pick up her daughter from a babysitter.

For almost a month, relatives, volunteers and investigators searched for her while trying to determine whether she had left voluntarily, suffered an accident or become the victim of a crime.

The answer came from the person who had once shared her life.

Williams eventually confessed to killing Tricia.

What he told investigators after his conviction revealed that the murder had been planned, that their daughter was sleeping nearby and that he had prepared a remote disposal site before luring Tricia to her death.

• “The Hungryland Homicide”: 20/20 Reports on Tricia Todd Homicide September 4 2026
• Who Is Steven Williams & Where Is He Now? 2026 Update & Profile

Tricia Grew Up in Hobe Sound

Tricia Todd grew up in Hobe Sound, Florida, in a large family.

She was the only girl among eight children.

That meant she grew up surrounded by seven brothers, and her family remained important throughout her adult life.

Those close relationships became crucial after she disappeared.

Her mother, father and brothers joined the effort to find her and pushed for answers when there was no immediate explanation for her absence.

The family knew Tricia well enough to reject the suggestion that she had simply abandoned her life.

She had a young daughter, a career and strong ties to the people around her.

Tricia Served in the U.S. Air Force

Before becoming a nurse, Tricia served in the United States Air Force.

Military service became one of the important threads running through her life.

It was also part of the history she shared with Steven Williams.

The two had known each other since school and later both entered the Air Force.

Their relationship developed over time and eventually led to marriage.

Tricia’s military background also meant the Air Force Office of Special Investigations became involved once her disappearance turned into a homicide case.

She Became a Nurse

After her military service, Tricia pursued a profession she had wanted since childhood.

She became a nurse.

Her work eventually focused on hospice care, placing her alongside patients and families dealing with serious illness and end-of-life decisions.

That career reflected a pattern in how family and friends described her.

Tricia was someone who cared for other people.

Her work demanded patience, emotional strength and compassion.

Those qualities also carried into her volunteer efforts outside Florida.

Tricia Took Part in Medical Missions to Haiti

Tricia participated in medical mission trips to Haiti.

She used her nursing skills in a setting far removed from home.

The trips were another example of her interest in helping people through medicine.

After her murder, the Haiti connection took on a disturbing significance.

Steven Williams later told detectives that after killing Tricia, he had wanted to gain access to her email account.

His plan, according to his later confession, was to send fake emails that would make her family believe she had gone to Haiti on another mission trip.

He intended to use a genuine part of Tricia’s life to conceal her death.

Tricia and Steven Williams Had Known Each Other for Years

Tricia and Steven Williams had known each other since their school years.

Both later served in the military.

Their relationship developed into marriage, and they had a daughter together.

By 2015, the relationship had broken down.

The couple separated.

Tricia returned to Hobe Sound with their daughter.

Their divorce was completed in 2016.

The separation meant Williams lived apart from Tricia, but their daughter kept them connected.

That continuing connection gave Williams access to Tricia.

Tricia Was Raising Her 2-Year-Old Daughter

By the time of her death, Tricia’s daughter was two years old.

Motherhood formed one of the strongest reasons her family knew something was wrong when she disappeared.

Tricia was expected to pick up her daughter from a babysitter.

She did not arrive.

For relatives, that missed pickup was not the behaviour of a mother who had chosen to disappear.

It immediately raised concern.

The child also remained connected to Williams, who was her father.

That relationship became central to the way investigators believe he lured Tricia to the place where he killed her.

Tricia Disappeared in April 2016

Tricia vanished in late April 2016.

Her family began contacting her and trying to determine where she had gone.

There was no convincing explanation.

Law enforcement became involved.

Search groups began combing areas around Hobe Sound.

At first, investigators had no body and no confirmed crime scene.

That left them with a wide range of possible explanations.

They had to reconstruct Tricia’s final known movements and examine everyone who had crossed her path.

Investigators Followed Several Unusual Leads

The early investigation involved a number of people connected to Tricia’s final days.

One was a pastor she had met while walking on the beach.

Another was a local ventriloquist in whom she had shown some interest.

Investigators had to examine both.

Their involvement in the case did not mean they were guilty of anything.

It reflected how little detectives knew.

Until evidence pointed in a clear direction, every recent relationship and encounter had to be considered.

The person who mattered most, however, was Tricia’s ex-husband.

Suspicion Turned Toward Steven Williams

Williams became a major focus of the investigation.

He had a close connection to Tricia.

He was the father of her child.

He had been in contact with her around the time she disappeared.

Investigators began comparing his statements with available evidence.

Over time, problems emerged.

Williams was not telling detectives the full story.

Nearly a month after Tricia disappeared, he finally admitted responsibility.

Williams Confessed to Killing Tricia

On May 25, 2016, Steven Williams confessed to killing his former wife.

The confession answered one major question.

Tricia was dead.

It did not answer another.

Where was she?

Williams initially gave detectives a version designed to make the killing appear less deliberate.

He claimed there had been an argument.

He said he pushed Tricia.

According to that first story, she fell, appeared lifeless and he panicked.

Investigators later learned that this was not the truth.

Williams Claimed He Could Not Remember Where He Left Her

After confessing, Williams said he had disposed of Tricia’s body but could not identify the location.

Detectives drove him through the Hungryland area and asked him to show them where he had taken her.

He repeatedly claimed he did not know.

Investigators challenged him.

They did not believe a person could dispose of a body in such a deliberate way and then forget the location.

They continued pressing him.

The recovery of Tricia became one of the most important goals in the case.

Prosecutors Offered a Plea Deal to Find Tricia

Williams possessed the information prosecutors needed.

He knew where Tricia’s remains were hidden.

That gave him leverage.

Authorities faced a painful choice.

They could continue toward a possible first-degree murder or death-penalty prosecution and risk never recovering Tricia.

Or they could make a deal.

They agreed that Williams would plead no contest to second-degree murder and receive a 35-year sentence if he led investigators to Tricia’s remains.

The deal also spared him the possibility of a death sentence.

For Tricia’s family, it meant accepting a punishment they may have considered too short in exchange for bringing her home.

Williams Led Police to Hungryland

Williams eventually agreed to show investigators where he had hidden Tricia.

He took them to the Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area, a remote region along the Palm Beach and Martin county border.

Video later showed Williams in an orange jail uniform walking investigators to the site.

He placed a marker in the ground.

Authorities began digging.

They found a buried plastic container.

Inside were acid and portions of human remains.

Tricia had been found.

Her Remains Had Been Dismembered

The condition of the site showed that Williams had done more than hide Tricia’s body.

Her remains had been dismembered.

Investigators recovered saws nearby.

They also found teeth.

Williams later admitted using a chainsaw.

The body parts had been placed into a container filled with acid.

The container was then buried in the remote preserve.

The steps involved in the disposal contradicted Williams’ first description of a sudden accident followed by panic.

They indicated preparation.

Investigators Believed They Recovered What Remained of Tricia

Because Tricia’s body had been placed in acid, investigators faced questions about whether all of her remains had been recovered.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder later said a laboratory reconstructed the likely effects of the acid over time.

Based on that analysis, investigators believed the remains recovered from Hungryland represented what was left after the period in the chemical.

That conclusion gave the family some assurance that authorities had recovered all that could be recovered.

It did not change the brutality of what had been done.

It did provide an end to the search.

Williams Later Admitted the Murder Was Planned

After Williams had already entered his plea and been convicted, detectives interviewed him again in prison.

This time, he gave a much more detailed account.

He said he had planned to kill Tricia in advance.

Williams said he had spent much of the day with her but could not bring himself to act.

He eventually decided to create a reason for Tricia to come to the Airbnb where he was staying with their daughter.

He sent Tricia a message saying the child was sick.

Tricia came because she believed her daughter needed her.

Tricia Was Lured to the Airbnb Through Her Daughter

The message about their daughter became the mechanism that brought Tricia to Williams.

She had no reason to ignore a report that her 2-year-old was ill.

According to Williams’ later account, Tricia arrived at the Airbnb.

Their daughter was sleeping nearby.

Williams attacked his former wife.

He said he first tried to strangle her.

Tricia lost consciousness.

Williams then stopped.

He had another part of his plan to carry out.

Williams Wanted Tricia’s Passwords

Williams told investigators he allowed Tricia to regain consciousness because he wanted information from her.

He wanted access to her email.

His plan was to create false messages that could make it appear she had left the country.

The Haiti mission work gave him a cover story.

If relatives received messages suggesting Tricia had gone to Haiti, Williams believed her disappearance could appear voluntary.

That meant his plan did not stop with murder.

It included an attempt to erase the crime by manipulating the way Tricia’s family understood her disappearance.

Tricia Regained Consciousness and Screamed

Williams said Tricia regained consciousness after the first strangulation attempt.

She screamed.

He then attacked her again.

According to the account he gave detectives, he struck her in the head with a club.

He then strangled her until she died.

Their daughter was asleep in the next room.

Tricia’s death therefore took place while the child they shared was close by.

The child-neglect charge against Williams stemmed from those circumstances.

Their Daughter Lost Her Mother in the Same Building

The presence of the 2-year-old is one of the most painful details in the case.

She was not the target.

She was not old enough to understand what was happening.

Yet the murder took place with her nearby.

The person killing her mother was her father.

The child later became part of the motive Williams described.

He told investigators he wanted full custody.

He also said he did not want to continue paying child support.

The daughter was therefore tied to both the circumstances and the motive he later gave for the crime.

Williams Had Prepared the Disposal Site Before the Murder

Williams’ later confession revealed that the Hungryland site had not been selected after Tricia died.

He had prepared it beforehand.

A hole had already been dug.

A container had been prepared.

He had purchased acid months earlier.

Investigators found surveillance footage showing him buying acid at a Home Depot in North Carolina.

That evidence supported the conclusion that the disposal plan existed before the murder.

The preparation undermined every suggestion that Tricia died during an argument and Williams panicked afterward.

He Transported Tricia to Hungryland

After killing Tricia, Williams transported her body to the remote preserve.

He took her to the prepared burial location.

There, according to his later statement, he dismembered her with a chainsaw.

He placed her remains into the acid-filled container.

He buried it.

He then returned to the process of trying to make Tricia appear missing rather than murdered.

That included returning her vehicle.

Investigators later found surveillance evidence showing Williams leaving Tricia’s residence after dropping the car there.

Tricia’s Car Became Part of the Cover-Up

Returning Tricia’s vehicle helped create a false scene.

If her car was back at her residence, investigators would have to determine how she left and where she went.

Williams hoped the disappearance could be made to look disconnected from him.

The plan was not enough.

Surveillance evidence captured his movements.

Detectives later used that footage to challenge his claim that he could not remember where he had disposed of Tricia’s body.

The pressure helped produce the agreement that led them to Hungryland.

Williams Said Child Support and Custody Were Motives

After his conviction, Williams told detectives why he killed Tricia.

He said he did not want to continue paying child support.

He wanted full custody of their daughter.

He also said he resented the way Tricia treated him during Skype calls involving the child.

His explanation framed the murder around money, custody and control.

Those motives were far removed from his original claim of an argument that ended in an accidental death.

By the time investigators heard the full explanation, however, the plea deal had already been made.

The Full Truth Came After the Legal Deal

The timing of Williams’ final account frustrated investigators and prosecutors.

The 35-year agreement had been made before they knew the full level of planning he later described.

If the detailed confession had come first, authorities may have approached charging and sentencing decisions in a different way.

The problem was that without the deal, Williams might not have revealed where Tricia was.

That left the case with an uncomfortable outcome.

The plea produced the recovery of the victim.

The later confession made the sentence look less severe than the crime.

Williams Was Sentenced to 35 Years

Steven Williams was sentenced in October 2016.

He received 35 years in prison for second-degree murder.

He also received five years for child neglect.

The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

That means the five-year term did not add another five years to the murder sentence.

There was no full murder trial.

Williams’ no-contest plea ended the case before a jury could hear all of the evidence.

Tricia’s Family Faced an Imperfect Form of Justice

Judge Lawrence Mirman acknowledged that the agreed sentence did not amount to full justice for Tricia and her family.

He also recognised the value of the agreement.

Without it, investigators might never have found her.

The case forced the family to choose between different forms of justice.

A harsher prosecution might have produced a longer sentence.

The plea produced Tricia’s remains.

There was no option that could provide both certainty and restore what had been lost.

Tricia’s Father Said He Forgave Williams

At sentencing, Tricia’s father, David Todd, addressed the court.

He said he had forgiven Williams.

He also said he prayed for him.

David said he no longer needed to pray for Tricia because he believed she was in a place of peace.

His words did not excuse the crime.

They reflected his own response to the loss of his daughter.

For the family, the sentencing hearing marked the legal end of a case that had begun with weeks of uncertainty.

What Happened to Tricia Todd?

Tricia Todd was murdered by her former husband in April 2016.

Steven Williams later admitted that he planned the killing.

He used their 2-year-old daughter as a reason to get Tricia to come to an Airbnb by claiming the child was sick.

Once Tricia arrived, Williams attacked her.

He first strangled her, then allowed her to regain consciousness because he wanted passwords he could use to create a false explanation for her disappearance.

When she screamed, he struck her with a club and strangled her to death.

Their daughter was sleeping nearby.

Her Body Was Taken to Hungryland

After the murder, Williams transported Tricia to a burial site he had prepared in advance.

He dismembered her body.

He placed her remains in acid.

He buried the container in the Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area.

For almost a month, Tricia remained there while her family searched for her.

Williams finally disclosed the location in exchange for a 35-year plea agreement.

Investigators recovered what they believed to be all of the remains that had survived the acid.

The search for Tricia was over.

Tricia Todd Is Remembered Beyond the Crime

The details of Tricia’s murder are difficult to separate from her name because of the attention the case received.

Her family has tried to make sure the crime does not become her entire identity.

Before Steven Williams killed her, Tricia had built a life around service.

She served in the Air Force.

She became a nurse.

She worked in hospice care.

She joined medical missions to Haiti.

She was a daughter, sister and mother.

Most of all, she was raising a 2-year-old child whose missed pickup first told her family that something was wrong.

That child became part of the method Williams used to lure Tricia to her death.

But the final story of Tricia Todd is larger than the way she died.

It is also the story of a woman whose family searched for her, refused to accept that she had walked away, and eventually brought her home through a painful deal with the man responsible for taking her life.

More “The Hungryland Homicide”

• “The Hungryland Homicide”: 20/20 Reports on Tricia Todd Homicide September 4 2026
• Who Was Tricia Todd & What Happened to Her? 2026 Update & Profile
• Who Is Steven Williams & Where Is He Now? 2026 Update & Profile

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