A Florida woman who was supposed to be caring for her longtime friend with dementia is accused of dumping the woman’s body in a nature preserve and then pretending she had no idea what happened to her.
Lori Hamilton, 60, is facing a charge of disturbing a dead body in connection with the death of 58-year-old Brenda Corbin in Cape Coral.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Hamilton reported Corbin missing on May 20, 2025, from her home on SE 18th Avenue.
Hamilton allegedly told investigators she believed Corbin had simply walked away from the house during the night.
But police say the evidence later pointed in a very different direction.
Hamilton had power of attorney over Corbin, a longtime friend she had known since high school. Corbin had dementia and had previously been living in an assisted living facility in Tampa.
Earlier that month, Hamilton checked Corbin out of the facility so the two could attend a celebration of life for a mutual friend.
Hamilton never returned Corbin to the facility.
Instead, she set up a bedroom for her at her own home, telling authorities she was unhappy with the care Corbin had been receiving.
When investigators began asking questions about Corbin’s disappearance, Hamilton allegedly suggested her friend might have gone off with a man who had once held her against her will for four days.
But police said Hamilton struggled to provide basic details about what the two women had done in the days before Corbin vanished.
“Hamilton could not explain what she and Brenda had done over the weekend,” investigators wrote. “All she said was that they had gone out but did not remember where they went or what they did.”
Police also noted that Hamilton did not appear especially worried about her missing friend.
In the days after Corbin disappeared, Hamilton allegedly posted on Facebook asking for help moving furniture but never mentioned that her longtime friend was missing.
Investigators also said Hamilton made no phone calls and took no apparent steps to search for Corbin.
Neighbors told detectives they had not seen Corbin recently.
Doorbell cameras in the neighborhood had previously captured Hamilton and Corbin walking a dog together, but investigators said there was no footage of Corbin leaving the home on the night Hamilton claimed she disappeared.
Instead, police turned to license plate readers and cellphone location data.
Investigators said Hamilton’s pickup truck was recorded driving through the Fort Myers and Punta Gorda areas during the early morning hours of May 19.
At around 3:30 a.m., data allegedly placed Hamilton near Babcock Ranch Preserve, close to the intersection of Bermont Road and Chiquita Drive in Punta Gorda.
A motion-activated trail camera also recorded a pickup truck in the same area around that time, according to police.
Hamilton allegedly told detectives she had gone there to check on her horses.
But investigators said license plate readers had never previously recorded her truck in the area.
When police confronted Hamilton with the location evidence, her demeanor allegedly changed and she stopped cooperating.
Three days after Corbin was reported missing, investigators made a grim discovery.
On May 23, police found a badly decomposed body covered with brush near an access road inside a nature preserve.
The body was identified as Corbin.
Investigators said there were drag marks in the grass leading away from the road.
Because of the advanced decomposition, an autopsy could not determine Corbin’s cause or manner of death.
Police said animal activity had also caused significant damage to the remains, including the loss of part of her left arm and lower leg.
When officers went to tell Hamilton that Corbin had been found dead, she allegedly looked down, slowly backed into her home and shut the door in their faces.
Police later seized Hamilton’s truck.
K-9s trained to detect human remains allegedly alerted to the vehicle, according to investigators.
Detectives also said they found Corbin’s Social Security card and medications inside the truck.
Hamilton refused to give investigators access to her cellphone and was allegedly combative and uncooperative during several encounters.
Other witnesses also raised concerns.
A woman who hosted the celebration of life told police that Hamilton “never got up to look” for Corbin when she wandered away during the event.
Staff members at Corbin’s nursing facility also told investigators they had previously experienced problems dealing with Hamilton when they needed information or assistance involving Corbin’s care.
At one point, detectives arranged a recorded phone call between Hamilton and one of Corbin’s adult children in hopes of getting more information.
Hamilton denied killing her friend.
“I haven’t killed your mom. I would never,” she said, according to the affidavit.
Police said Hamilton spent more time during the conversation talking about how she believed officers had mistreated her than discussing Corbin or the grief of Corbin’s children.
Hamilton was arrested last week and is being held at the Charlotte County Jail on $6,000 bond.
Her next court date is scheduled for Sept. 8.
Corbin’s daughter, Heather Bliss, told CBS affiliate WINK that she had once trusted Hamilton and never imagined she could be accused in a case like this.
“You know, she seemed like she was a good friend to my mom,” Bliss said. “There was just nothing there for me to suspect that she would do something like this.”
But Bliss said Hamilton’s behavior after her mother disappeared immediately troubled her.
“If my best friend went missing, I’d be posting it all over Facebook,” she said. “I’d be doing everything I could.”
