When friends and family of a Jupiter, Florida, mother began receiving texts revealing she had a serious case of coronavirus, they grew worried. But Gretchen Anthony hadn t talked to anyone and wasn t answering her phone. Was she really sending the text messages? Or was someone using COVID-19 to cover up her disappearance?
It was March 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic was stretching across the country. This case really hit differently, says Chrichet Mixon, an assistant state attorney for Palm Beach County. I mean, we are talking about someone who is a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend.
Gretchen Anthony Facebook
In David Anthony s mind, all signs pointed to Armageddon.
It was March 2020, in the early stages of the generation-defining COVID-19 pandemic. States were shutting down, the economy was cratering, and thousands of people were becoming sick each day.
The life that once tethered him to Palm Beach County was coming undone, and a laundry list of failures and disappointments were propelling the 44-year-old s delusions that the end times were near. His marriage of five years was ending. He d been fired, again, from his job after a series of disturbing outbursts toward women. His wife had booted him from their Jupiter townhome, and he now lived with his elderly mother.