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“The Hungryland Homicide”: 20/20 Reports on Tricia Todd Homicide September 4 2026

Ryan Gill

ABC’s 20/20 presents “The Hungryland Homicide” on Friday, September 4, 2026, from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. EDT, revisiting the disappearance and murder of Tricia Todd, a mother, U.S. Air Force veteran and hospice nurse from Hobe Sound, Florida. Deborah Roberts reports on a case that began as a search for a missing woman and ended with a confession, a negotiated plea and the discovery of Todd’s remains in a remote wildlife area.

The September 4 broadcast is an encore of the 20/20 episode that first aired on May 3, 2024. The case remains striking because investigators had to solve two mysteries at once: what had happened to Todd and where her body had been hidden. Her former husband, Steven Williams, eventually admitted killing her, but the full account he later gave detectives revealed a crime more calculated than the version he first provided.

Williams avoided a possible death-penalty prosecution by pleading no contest to second-degree murder. In exchange, he agreed to lead investigators to Todd’s remains. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, while a concurrent five-year sentence was imposed for child neglect.

Tricia Todd Was a Mother, Veteran and Nurse

Tricia Todd grew up in Hobe Sound, Florida, as the only girl among eight siblings. Her family remained close, and those ties became central once she disappeared in April 2016.

Todd served in the U.S. Air Force and later pursued nursing, a profession she had wanted since childhood. She eventually worked in hospice care, supporting patients and families at the end of life.

Her work also included medical mission trips to Haiti, a detail that would later become part of the cover story Williams said he considered creating after killing her.

By 2016, Todd was also raising her 2-year-old daughter following the breakdown of her marriage to Williams.

Todd and Steven Williams Had a Long History

Todd and Williams had known each other since school.

Both later served in the Air Force, and their relationship developed into marriage. They had one daughter together.

The marriage deteriorated and the couple separated in 2015. Todd returned to Hobe Sound with their daughter, while Williams was stationed in North Carolina.

Their divorce was completed in 2016.

That relationship placed Williams among the people investigators had to examine once Todd vanished. He was her former husband, the father of her child and someone with direct contact with her in the days surrounding her disappearance.

Todd Disappeared in April 2016

Todd was last seen in late April 2016.

One of the most alarming signs came when she failed to pick up her 2-year-old daughter from a babysitter.

For her family, that was not consistent with Todd’s behaviour.

They did not believe she had simply chosen to disappear.

The missed pickup changed the nature of the situation from an unexplained absence to an emergency.

Relatives and law enforcement began trying to reconstruct her final hours.

Hobe Sound Became the Center of a Search

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office and volunteer search groups began combing the Hobe Sound area and surrounding locations.

At the start, investigators did not know whether they were dealing with an accident, voluntary disappearance or crime.

Todd’s family was convinced something had happened to her.

Investigators therefore had to examine each known contact, communication and movement connected to her final days.

The search stretched on for weeks.

No body was found.

No simple explanation emerged.

Investigators Examined Several Unusual Leads

The early phase of the case produced a number of people detectives had to consider.

One was a pastor Todd had encountered while walking on the beach.

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

Neither connection established guilt, but both had to be investigated because authorities had so little information.

The unusual leads reflected the difficulty of the case before detectives knew who was responsible.

Every relationship and recent encounter mattered until evidence showed otherwise.

Suspicion Shifted Toward Steven Williams

As investigators continued examining Todd’s disappearance, Williams became more important.

His statements and movements came under scrutiny.

Authorities wanted to know when he had last seen Todd, why he had been in the area and whether his version of events could be matched against surveillance, phone and witness evidence.

The case began tightening around him.

Todd had disappeared after contact with her former husband.

Williams initially did not admit killing her.

That would change after nearly a month.

Williams Confessed to Killing Todd

On May 25, 2016, Williams admitted that he had killed Todd and disposed of her body.

The confession changed the case, but it did not solve it.

Investigators still did not know where Todd was.

Williams initially told a version in which he claimed the death followed an argument.

He said he pushed Todd, she fell, and he believed she was dead.

He claimed he panicked and disposed of her body somewhere he could not identify.

Detectives did not accept that account.

The later evidence would show why.

Williams Claimed He Could Not Remember Where the Body Was

Investigators drove Williams through the Hungryland area and pressed him to identify where he had taken Todd.

He repeatedly claimed he did not know where the location was.

Detectives challenged that explanation.

They knew a person who had transported and concealed a body would be expected to remember a place of that importance.

Williams continued resisting.

The breakthrough came when detectives confronted him with surveillance evidence that contradicted parts of his story.

He then agreed to cooperate.

Prosecutors Faced a Difficult Choice

Williams knew where Todd’s remains were located.

That gave him leverage.

Prosecutors had to decide whether to seek the harshest possible charge and risk never finding Tricia, or negotiate for information that could return her remains to her family.

They chose the second option.

Williams agreed to plead no contest to second-degree murder in exchange for a sentence of 35 years and for leading investigators to the body.

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

For Todd’s family and investigators, the deal was painful but practical.

Without it, they might never have known where she had been taken.

Williams Led Investigators to Hungryland

Williams took investigators to the Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area, along the border of Martin and Palm Beach counties.

The remote location gave the 20/20 episode its title.

Williams walked investigators to the place where he had hidden Todd.

Authorities excavated the site.

They found a buried plastic container holding acid and portions of human remains.

Other items, including saws and teeth, were recovered nearby.

The search finally gave Todd’s family an answer.

She had been found.

The Condition of the Remains Revealed the Extent of the Crime

The recovery site showed that the crime had involved far more than a panicked effort to hide a body.

Todd’s remains had been dismembered.

A container filled with acid had been prepared.

The evidence suggested planning before the murder.

Investigators later concluded that the method used to dispose of the body had been thought out in advance.

A laboratory analysis also helped authorities assess whether the remains recovered represented what was left after the period in acid.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder later said investigators believed they had recovered all of the remains that could have survived the process.

Williams Later Admitted the Murder Had Been Planned

After his conviction, detectives interviewed Williams in prison.

He gave them a much fuller account.

According to that later statement, the killing had not resulted from a spontaneous argument.

Williams said he had planned it.

He told detectives that he had spent the day with Todd but had not been able to bring himself to act.

He eventually decided to create a reason for her to come to him.

He sent a message saying their daughter, who was staying with him at an Airbnb, was sick.

Todd came to the property.

Williams Said He Tried to Strangle Todd First

According to the account he later gave detectives, Williams attacked Todd after she arrived.

He said he first tried to strangle her.

He then allowed her to regain consciousness because he wanted information from her, including passwords.

Williams said he planned to use her email account to create messages that would make her family believe she had travelled to Haiti on a medical mission.

The scheme was designed to make her disappearance look voluntary.

When Todd regained consciousness, she screamed.

Williams said he then struck her in the head with a club.

He later choked her to death.

Their Daughter Was Sleeping Nearby

One of the most disturbing elements of Williams’ account involved the couple’s young daughter.

The 2-year-old was in the next room while the murder occurred.

She was asleep, according to Williams’ account.

The presence of the child became the basis for the separate child-neglect charge.

The crime therefore did not only end Todd’s life.

It also placed their daughter in the immediate vicinity of the killing and left her without her mother.

Williams Had Prepared the Disposal Site in Advance

Williams told detectives that he had already prepared the Hungryland site before the murder.

A hole had been dug.

A container had been readied.

Acid had been purchased.

Surveillance evidence later showed him buying acid from a Home Depot in North Carolina months before Todd’s death.

That evidence supported the conclusion that the killing and disposal were planned.

It also contradicted the original story that Todd had died during an argument and that Williams had acted in panic afterward.

He Dismembered Todd’s Body in Hungryland

Williams transported Todd’s body to the remote location.

There, he dismembered her remains.

Investigators recovered evidence consistent with the use of saws.

Williams said he used a chainsaw.

He placed body parts into the acid-filled container and buried it.

The location had been chosen to hide what he had done.

Todd’s remains remained there while family, friends and law enforcement searched for her across the region.

Williams Returned Todd’s Car

Part of Williams’ cover-up involved Todd’s vehicle.

Investigators obtained surveillance evidence showing him leaving Todd’s residence after returning her car.

That evidence helped detectives break down his early account.

It showed that he had taken steps to manipulate the scene after her death.

The car became another piece in the effort to create the impression that Todd had disappeared under circumstances unrelated to him.

Detectives used the surveillance evidence during questioning to pressure Williams into revealing where he had hidden her.

Williams Planned to Create Fake Emails

Williams later told detectives that he wanted access to Todd’s email account.

His plan was to create false messages suggesting she had left for Haiti.

The idea exploited a real part of Todd’s life.

She had participated in medical mission work there.

A sudden trip could therefore have looked plausible to people who knew her.

The plan also showed that Williams was thinking beyond the killing itself.

He wanted to create a false narrative about what happened afterward.

That narrative could have delayed or redirected the investigation.

Investigators Said Williams Had Several Motives

Williams later described reasons for killing his former wife.

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

He wanted full custody of their daughter.

He also resented the way Todd spoke to him during Skype calls involving their child.

These motives reflected conflict over money, custody and control.

The later statement gave investigators an explanation for why Williams had planned the murder rather than simply reacting in a moment of anger.

His stated reasons also contradicted the version in which Todd’s death was accidental.

Williams’ Full Confession Came After the Plea Deal

The timing of Williams’ detailed account created frustration.

By the time he admitted the full scope of the planning, prosecutors had already entered into the plea agreement.

They had negotiated based on the need to recover Todd’s remains.

The later revelations made the 35-year sentence appear lenient compared with the nature of the crime.

Judge Lawrence Mirman acknowledged that tension at sentencing.

He said the sentence was less than full justice.

He also said the agreement had allowed authorities to learn the truth and recover Todd’s remains.

Williams Pleaded No Contest to Second-Degree Murder

Williams entered a no-contest plea to second-degree murder.

A no-contest plea does not require a defendant to make the same formal admission as a guilty plea, but it allows the court to enter a conviction and sentence.

The agreement capped the punishment at 35 years.

Williams also faced a child-neglect charge because his daughter had been present nearby during the killing.

He received five years on that count.

The five-year sentence was ordered to run concurrently with the murder sentence.

That meant it did not extend the total imprisonment beyond 35 years.

There Was No Full Murder Trial

The plea agreement meant no jury heard a complete murder trial.

Prosecutors did not have to prove the case through witnesses, forensic testimony and evidence presentation before jurors.

Williams did not face the risk of a first-degree murder conviction or death sentence.

For Todd’s family, the trade-off was clear.

They lost the possibility of a harsher sentence.

They gained the recovery of Tricia’s remains.

The legal process therefore ended through negotiation rather than trial.

A Mental Evaluation Delayed Sentencing

Before sentencing, Williams’ defense requested a mental-health evaluation.

He had been placed on suicide watch while in jail.

The defense said it wanted to ensure he remained competent to proceed.

The evaluation found that Williams was competent.

That allowed the sentencing hearing to go forward in October 2016.

The issue did not undo the plea or prevent the court from imposing the negotiated sentence.

Steven Williams Was Sentenced to 35 Years

On October 7, 2016, Martin County Circuit Judge Lawrence Mirman sentenced Williams to 35 years in prison for second-degree murder.

He also imposed five years for child neglect, to run at the same time.

The sentence reflected the negotiated agreement.

Mirman said it was less than what full justice might have required but noted that the plea had produced information the family and investigators would not otherwise have had.

Without Williams’ cooperation, Todd’s remains might never have been recovered.

The judge accepted that compromise as part of the outcome.

Tricia Todd’s Father Spoke at Sentencing

Todd’s father, David Todd, addressed the court before the sentence was imposed.

He said he had forgiven Williams.

He also said he prayed for him.

His remarks reflected the family’s attempt to find some form of peace despite the nature of the crime.

David said he no longer needed to pray for his daughter because he believed she was at peace.

The comments stood in contrast to the violence described in the case.

They showed a family trying to move beyond the details of the murder without forgetting Tricia.

Investigators Said the Plea Brought Some Measure of Justice

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder later said no one involved was happy with the outcome.

The case did not offer a result that could feel satisfying.

A young mother had been murdered.

Her body had been dismembered and placed in acid.

Her killer had received a finite sentence rather than life without parole or death.

Still, Snyder said the plea provided some measure of justice.

It gave investigators the location of Todd’s remains and allowed her family to know what had happened.

The Air Force Helped Investigate the Case

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations worked with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office during the case.

Williams’ military status made the Air Force part of the investigative picture.

Teams from several OSI units participated.

The case therefore involved cooperation between local law enforcement and military investigators.

That coordination helped authorities reconstruct Williams’ movements, background and conduct.

The Air Force also continued examining his actions after the murder conviction.

The Case Exposed the Difference Between a Confession and the Truth

One of the defining aspects of the Todd case is that Williams confessed before he told the truth.

His first account was incomplete.

He described an argument, a push and an accidental death.

He claimed he could not remember where the body had been left.

That version minimized planning and intent.

Only after the plea deal and recovery of the remains did he provide the account involving premeditation, strangulation, a club, passwords, fake emails, acid and a prepared burial site.

For investigators, the lesson was stark.

A confession can still contain deception.

Todd’s Family Had to Accept an Imperfect Legal Outcome

The plea agreement gave Todd’s family answers but created another source of pain.

Williams received a sentence that could someday end with his release.

The later evidence suggested conduct that prosecutors might have used to pursue a more serious charge if they had possessed it earlier.

But the deal had already been made.

The family had to weigh that against the fact that Tricia had been found.

Without the agreement, she might have remained missing.

That dilemma sits at the heart of the case.

Justice was obtained, but not in a form that fully matched the crime.

Tricia Todd Is Remembered for More Than Her Death

The circumstances of Todd’s murder are extreme, but her family has emphasized the life that came before them.

She was a daughter and sister.

She grew up as the only girl among seven brothers.

She served in the Air Force.

She became a nurse.

She worked in hospice care.

She joined medical missions to Haiti.

She was raising a young daughter.

Those details matter because the murder risks reducing her identity to what Williams did to her.

Her family and friends have continued speaking about the person she was before the case began.

“The Hungryland Homicide” Reconstructs the Entire Case

Deborah Roberts’ 20/20 report examines the mystery from the first missing-person alert through the confession and plea.

The programme also looks at the unusual people investigators considered before they focused on Williams.

It examines the search for Todd’s body and the negotiation that finally led authorities to Hungryland.

The episode also explores the later revelation that Williams had lied in his first confession.

What appeared at first to be a death during an argument was, by Williams’ later account, a murder planned in advance.

That difference reshaped how investigators and prosecutors viewed the case after the legal deal was already complete.

“The Hungryland Homicide” Returns to 20/20

ABC first aired “The Hungryland Homicide” on May 3, 2024.

The two-hour report returns on Friday, September 4, 2026, from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. EDT.

The episode follows the disappearance, the search, the investigation of multiple possible suspects, Steven Williams’ confession, the recovery of Tricia’s remains and the plea agreement that put him in prison.

It also shows why the case remains difficult to view as fully resolved.

Williams was convicted.

Tricia was found.

Her family received answers.

But the man who admitted planning her murder avoided a trial and received a 35-year sentence because the location of her remains had become part of the negotiation.

That is the central tension behind “The Hungryland Homicide.”

20/20: “The Hungryland Homicide” airs Friday, September 4, 2026, from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. EDT on ABC.

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