Auburndale woman has been missing a year. Now a man is accused of stealing from her
About a year after an Auburndale woman was last seen by family members, Tonya Whipp’s romantic partner has been arrested and charged with repeatedly stealing money from her bank accounts.
Auburndale police arrested Russell Carroll last week, charging him with criminal use of personal identification information and grand theft, both felonies. Carroll, 37, was released on combined bond of $35,000, though a prosecutor has asked Polk County Judge Kevin Kohl to increase the bond amount.
Auburndale police obtained a warrant last week to search the residence that Carroll and Whipp shared. Officers began the search Saturday and were continuing their efforts as of Monday, Auburndale PD spokesperson Jazmine Jaimes said.
The agency has previously searched the home on Caroline Avenue but has not found any evidence tying Carroll to Whipp’s disappearance, according to news reports.
Carroll served about 17 years in prison in two stretches after being convicted in 2004 of attempted first-degree murder in the stabbing of a previous girlfriend, according to court records. He left prison on Jan. 30, 2023.
Whipp, 39, has been the subject of multiple searches since family members reported her mission on June 29, 2023. Her relatives said that they had not seen or heard from her in weeks, according to police records.
Kohl ordered Carroll’s release from custody last week under conditions, including a 9 p.m. curfew and GPS monitoring. In a court filing Thursday, Assistant State Attorney Paul Wallace of the 10th Judicial Circuit asked Kohl to increase Carroll’s bond amounts. As of Monday afternoon, Carroll was being held at the South County Jail in Frostproof.
In the motion, Wallace argued that Carroll is a flight risk, knowing that he is a suspect in a homicide investigation. Wallace wrote that Carroll has been unable or unwilling to conform to requirements of supervision, citing Carroll’s arrest in 2013 on violating the terms of his release following nearly eight years in prison for the attempted murder conviction.
Carroll subsequently served another nearly nine years, the motion said.
Wallace also cited the strength of proof against Carroll for the two pending charges, which could result in sentence of up to 30 years as a habitual violent felony offender and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. The prosecutor asked the judge to impose house arrest if Carroll proved unable to post an increased bond.
Case now considered homicide
Auburndale police initially investigated Whipp’s disappearance as a missing-person case. In October, the department obtained a search warrant based on probable cause that Whipp was the victim of a homicide, according to Carroll’s arrest affidavit.
The five-page arrest affidavit filed by the Auburndale Police Department last week indicates that Carroll repeatedly drew money from Whipp’s bank account between July 2023 and March 2024.
When first interviewed in late June 2023, Carroll claimed that Whipp failed to return home from her job with a pool supply company on May 26, according to the affidavit. He told investigators that she had disappeared before for a couple of days and that he did not report her missing because he expected her to return.
During a preliminary search, Auburndale police found most of Whipp’s possessions at the home, including her vehicle, purse and dog, though her driver license and cell phone were missing, the affidavit said.
A private investigator hired by Whipp’s relatives found a receipt in her vehicle dated May 26 from an Advance Auto Parts in Auburndale, the affidavit said. Police obtained surveillance video that showed Carroll and Whipp entering and leaving the store together.
Police investigators found ATM receipts in Whipp’s purse with timestamps from June 26 for four withdrawals totaling $800.
Investigators determined that Whipp had an active checking account with Chime Inc. that received monthly Supplemental Security Income deposits of $822.60, and deposits in March and April from her employer. Records also showed 10 electronic transfers to the account from “Russell C.”
From March through May, the account showed regular debit withdrawals, including monthly payments to Geico, T-Mobile and Kikoff Lending, with electronic debit transactions at convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants, the affidavit said.
Transactions made at Avenue G Pawn Shop in Winter Haven led investigators to interview an employee, who said that Whipp had made a downpayment on a set of engagement rings on April 28, 2023. The employee said that Carroll and Whipp came to the shop on May 25 to make a payment and pick up a ring for Carroll.
Whipp and Carroll returned the next day to make another payment of $160 but did not obtain the other ring, the employee told investigators. May 26 was the day that Carroll told police Whipp had failed to return home from work.
After the May 26 transaction at Advance Auto Parts, Whipp’s account showed four consecutive ATM withdrawals of $203 each on June 26, plus cash withdrawal fees, as well as a $7 transfer from Credit Builder and an SSI payment.
Surveillance video showed that Carroll alone had made the ATM withdrawals on June 26, the affidavit said. The card he used was not one found in Whipp’s purse when it was given to police in July. The Polk County Sheriff's Office examined ATM receipts found in the purse and detected only Carroll’s fingerprints, the affidavit said.
On Aug. 29, an electronic transaction of $1,400 occurred with the notation “Transfer to Russell C.” Carroll did not approach law enforcement to report that Whipp might still be alive based on the transfer, the affidavit said.
Searches fail to find body
On Oct. 4, Auburndale police obtained a warrant, based on probable caused that Whipp was a homicide victim, and searched the residence. Police found a photo on Carroll’s computer showing a photo of a cell phone screen displaying Whipp’s Chime username and password.
A subpoena to Chime Inc. found additional withdrawals and transfers from Whipp’s account from September 2023 through March 2024. Those included three with notations of transfers from Tonya to Russell C., along with 14 ATM withdrawals in amounts as large as $400, the affidavit said.
Police found video showing Carroll making three of those ATM withdrawals.
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The affidavit described all the transactions after May 26 as “out of the usual pattern of activity” for Whipp, with no transactions for food, gas, automotive insurance or other typical expenses conducted.
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We Are the Essentials, a nonprofit group based in Central Florida, has carried out several searches for Whipp on behalf of her relatives, said Billy Lane, the organization’s co-founder. The group consists of former law enforcement officers and military members now working as private investigators who conduct searches at no charge to family members, he said.
Lane said the group helped in the search in Southwest Florida for the body of Brian Laundrie, suspected of killing his girlfriend, Gabby Petito, in 2021, and found the body of Kathleen Moore near the home of the Pasco County man later convicted for her murder.
Lane, who lives in Polk County, said that We Are the Essentials has now searched thousands of acres in the Auburndale and Winter Haven areas but has not found any signs of Whipp. He said the group has been coordinating with family members since last summer.
“I think they started out, like most families, believing that Tanya, maybe, was clearing her head, maybe there was something not totally right, but they believed Tonya was still with us,” Lane said. “And I think that hope faded over time. I think they're in a position now, they believe Tanya is no longer with us.”
Whipp’s relatives have previously spoken with reporters, but Lane said they had been advised by Auburndale police to avoid public comments as the latest search continued.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Man charged with stealing from missing girlfriend's bank account
