Found Deceased FL - Stephanie Chitwood Hollingsworth, 50, Belle Isle, 25 Sept 2020

[Seattle1]

I live within 5 miles of Stephanie Hollingsworth (we attended the same yoga studio, may have been in the same aerial classes together but I don't recall as it's been several months due to covid).

The idea of her crashing into a waterway around here definitely crossed my mind and could still be a possibility, but just to give some more context of this particular part of Orlando --

It is nonstop sprawl, stoplights and traffic. There are lots of retention ponds and waterways, but there is no way that around the mid- to late-afternoon hours of Friday that someone wouldn't see an SUV going under or into some Brazilian Pepper. There have definitely been stories of people under the influence crashing and drowning in retention ponds off the side of a highway, but there has always been someone who sees the crash.

If she were to have driven 15-ish miles east on 528, there are plenty of wide open spaces without a soul in sight. I am hestitant to believe this only because:

1. It is a pain in the butt to have to sit through afternoon traffic, plus get on the highway that is full of construction (all of them are here), and drive out a few dozen miles to get to an area where no one would notice if something happened to you. Especially if we're implying she was under the influence. I would imagine she'd be driving somewhat erratically.

2. I'm also hesitant to believe she drove that far out of the way to drink. I think this was meant to be a quick trip (especially considering she had 3 kids who are all school-aged). I kind of get the feeling that her family was in the process of addressing her alcoholism, that she was possibly in the very beginning of recovery and thus was why she "required care". If you listen to the way her husband described her when a reporter asked about her "mental issue", he had a lot of difficulty with it. It possibly sounded like he and his family had just come to terms, or addressed it in a way that brought a new level of awareness or action -- it's so difficult to have to admit something to yourself, let alone then have to tell the world about it, especially when it then has to do with a missing persons case. Granted, all speculation on my part, we obviously don't have the full picture.

I say all of this because it makes sense why she may have left her phone charging at home. I don't know about androids, but iphones can track and share your location with others you allow. It very well could have been that she just forgot her phone, or didn't usually bring it with her on quick trips, but my thought was that possibly she intentionally left it at home because her husband (or anyone else in her family) could easily see where her location was. If she leaves it at home, for anyone who checks her phone, she 'is' at home. Which to me would suggest she felt this would be a quick trip to get money out of the ATM (cash means no tracking that she went to a liquor store), purchase the vodka, and probably go somewhere close by to drink and head home before her family got home for the day. I feel like there had to have been a favorite spot close by that she has been to in the past, that she's gone to before to do the same thing. I just don't know where. It could have very well been a crowded parking lot, but surely a security camera would have recorded something?

I'm really worried that there is foul play and not that she ran off the road somewhere. Knowing these roads (I drove the same route last night she took), I just don't know how in the world someone wouldn't have noticed. The only way it's possible is if she found a spot to drink, and hours and hours went by until it was the middle of the night. Either way, it's definitely troubling.

Welcome to WS @lauren_ipsum and thanks for your local input. Can you share what your traffic is like? Are parking lots full with shoppers where SH would feel the need to find privacy? In comparison to other areas, we never really "re-opened" per se and traffic still considered very light-- with the exception of street crowds gathering for protests.

If foul play, I think it would have to include carjacking but I'm still at a loss since it's been reported that the vehicle not picked up on intersection cameras or tolls
and I feel like there's been sufficient time to check and confirm this information.

 

[Seattle1]

And 10 year old Tahoes at that.

Hollingsworth took her purse but left her cellphone. Police said she could be traveling in a 2000 Silver Chevrolet Tahoe with Florida license plate numbers Y50XUR.

It's reported as a 2000 model so that's 20 years old.

 

[Lamima]

It's reported as a 2000 model so that's 20 years old.

I was thinking that was what I first saw but then thought 20 is too old. Guess not.

 

[MrsWatson]

I thought it was ten as well.

I'm thinking self-harm/misadventure or foul play. Very concerning circumstances. She sounds very vulnerable, imo.

 

[lauren_ipsum]

Welcome to WS @lauren_ipsum and thanks for your local input. Can you share what your traffic is like? Are parking lots full with shoppers where SH would feel the need to find privacy? In comparison to other areas, we never really "re-opened" per se and traffic still considered very light-- with the exception of street crowds gathering for protests.

If foul play, I think it would have to include carjacking but I'm still at a loss since it's been reported that the vehicle not picked up on intersection cameras or tolls
and I feel like there's been sufficient time to check and confirm this information.

Our governor put us in "everything's reopen" phase a couple weeks ago, so it's fairly busy. Plenty of filled parking spaces. But even prior to our Phase 3, most of the big box stores have had a consistent stream of customers. This area of town, in Conway, is a mix of older 60s ranch suburbs meets newer high-end developments, with big box shopping centers and fast food/chains. Plus the beginnings of the businesses that cater to airport traffic towards the south, like hotels and off-site parking.

There is also quite a few areas of semi-secluded industrial parks, but most of those have a consistent flow of semi-trucks and employees (many here are back in offices), plus security and cameras.

Where SH is from, in Belle Isle, is more upper/upper-middle class, windier roads that go around lakes and lots of big live oak trees. It's a quieter neighborhood sandwiched between two very heavily trafficked parts of town.

It's very odd that no traffic camera or toll camera has picked up on the car. Every single highway uses tolls here, except I4, but I4 is in the opposite direction and the fastest way to get on it requires getting on a road that has tolls (528).

 

[DEB-Z]

Given that her husband indicated that Stephanie had issues with alcohol, and given that the Walmart video showed her purchasing a bottle of vodka, my first thought was that she may have blacked out and driven off a highway somewhere - with the Tahoe perhaps ending up deep in woods or in/under some water located adjacent to whatever highway she was traveling on (probably on her right side of the road).

I don't know if the Tahoe had On-Star, but if it did, I think that LE would have been able to locate the vehicle by now - especially if it were in woods somewhere off of a highway. I don't know enough about On-Star and other GPS systems, however, to know whether LE could use those systems to locate a vehicle that was submerged.

My guess though is that LE has looked (and is still looking) for any evidence that a vehicle may have left a highway along any probable route which Stephanie may have taken upon leaving the Walmart (if that is what she did). Sadly, I think a lake located immediately adjacent to a medium speed, slightly-curving highway, is the most likely scenario/location.

<modsnip>

I hope Stephanie is found safe, and soon!

This is exactly what I thought, with the possibility of drinking and driving, she could have easily have driven into water...
I live in South Florida and there is literally small ponds, lakes, and canals everywhere:
A few months ago a man was found in his car, in FL that had been underwater in a lake for years, several months ago I had to call 911 because a woman cut sideways, in front of me, drove way down a steep slopes grassy hill, and just missed going into the water!
I think they should get a few drones and search over the water, and canals, in her area:
Praying she is found safe

 

[lauren_ipsum]

Definitely keeping the possibility open regarding bodies of water, but one more thing to consider about the retention ponds around here is that many have a perimeter fence to keep people/alligators/whatever else out. Not all, but plenty, especially ones located closest to shopping centers. Additionally, the ones in neighborhoods are often located in gated communities, where access is limited. You would think had she crashed into one of those, if no one had seen her, there'd at least be a major breach in the fence. The ones on the highways don't have fences, but then it goes back to toll cameras!

 

[azure]

Given the "mental issues", buying a bottle of vodka in the afternoon, and how the appeals are phrased, I'm putting the odds at 50% self harm and 50% alcohol-related accident. Foul play isn't likely at all, IMO.

 

[lexinyc2013]

From what I've read, I am leaning towards she left on her own or she harmed herself. I feel maybe she harmed herself. Some things remind me of another case when a mom of 2 young boys was missing/was last seen on video at a store, and later found her car hidden in the woods and found she had committed suicide. I hate to say this but it is just my gut feeling.
Something about her walk seemed off on the video and the way she stopped and did a quick turnaround. Though I surely have done turn arounds like that in aisles. So I could be all off.. but just this is just what my gut feeling is.

 

[Rose in SC]

From what I've read, I am leaning towards she left on her own or she harmed herself. I feel maybe she harmed herself. Some things remind me of another case when a mom of 2 young boys was missing/was last seen on video at a store, and later found her car hidden in the woods and found she had committed suicide. I hate to say this but it is just my gut feeling.
Something about her walk seemed off on the video and the way she stopped and did a quick turnaround. Though I surely have done turn arounds like that in aisles. So I could be all off.. but just this is just what my gut feeling is.

That was Jennifer Hutson in Oregon - such a sad sad case. Stephanie's situation immediately reminded me of Jennifer.

 

[Cortne]

Bumping for Stephanie!

 

[Meligator]

Does anyone know if the husband has been able to view the contents of her phone (was is locked)? Identify who she may have last spoke with etc,?

 

[MoeInVA]

Here for Stephanie! So glad to have a local join us with such great insights. It’s really perplexing. A lot of people have begun problem drinking in the pandemic and I feel for Stephanie. I was a constant presence in the gym for many years until the pandemic. It was my stress release, my community, empowering, so important to my mental health and it was very difficult to lose that. For a yoga instructor and regular class attendee, I could see that being very difficult and disruptive. —-She is small enough that drinking a bottle of vodka could kill her without any real intention of self-harm - just stress release getting out of hand with alcohol poisoning. But that doesn’t explain the missing car unless she drove like that into a wooded ditch or pond. I am reminded of the two young women in Wilmington, NC. Even though 911 was called, they were not found until several days or weeks later. In an area that did not appear particularly wooded. In the light of day: Friends of missing women ask why WPD didn’t return to search crash scene the following day | Port City Daily
— domestic seems more likely than random foul play. If it was a known attacker, they would have reason to ditch the car at night. That makes more sense then her drinking and driving into the night and having an accident or being attacked/ car jacked for the 20 yo car, though that’s not impossible. Police want car for evidence. Not sure if anything has been said about where husband and family were when she went missing?

 

[oviedo]

Here for Stephanie! So glad to have a local join us with such great insights. It’s really perplexing. A lot of people have begun problem drinking in the pandemic and I feel for Stephanie. I was a constant presence in the gym for many years until the pandemic. It was my stress release, my community, empowering, so important to my mental health and it was very difficult to lose that. For a yoga instructor and regular class attendee, I could see that being very difficult and disruptive. —-She is small enough that drinking a bottle of vodka could kill her without any real intention of self-harm - just stress release getting out of hand with alcohol poisoning. But that doesn’t explain the missing car unless she drove like that into a wooded ditch or pond. I am reminded of the two young women in Wilmington, NC. Even though 911 was called, they were not found until several days or weeks later. In an area that did not appear particularly wooded. In the light of day: Friends of missing women ask why WPD didn’t return to search crash scene the following day | Port City Daily
— domestic seems more likely than random foul play. If it was a known attacker, they would have reason to ditch the car at night. That makes more sense then her drinking and driving into the night and having an accident or being attacked/ car jacked for the 20 yo car, though that’s not impossible. Police want car for evidence. Not sure if anything has been said about where husband and family were when she went missing?

This is my concern - there is zero evidence about when or if she returned to the home and not a word about neighborhood ring or video cameras - I feel like there is a story we are supposed to believe now
And I’m not buying it ... yet
JMO

 

[MissUnderstood]

Taking out the cash then buying the alcohol seems like classic cover your tracks behaviour. If she is known to have issues with drinking, you definitely don’t want liquor stores on your bank statement. Unfortunately, I think she may have had an accident in her car.
Moo

 

[Cortne]

Taking out the cash then buying the alcohol seems like classic cover your tracks behaviour. If she is known to have issues with drinking, you definitely don’t want liquor stores on your bank statement. Unfortunately, I think she may have had an accident in her car.
Moo

Yes me too.

 

[Cortne]

I cannot get this lovely lady off my mind. Praying TODAY her boys get answers and hopefully mom back as well.

 

[oviedo]

If she had an accident where the heck is her car ?

 

[MissUnderstood]

If she had an accident where the heck is her car ?

I’m going to guess in water somewhere!
Moo

 

[oviedo]

Stephanie Hollingsworth Missing: 5 Fast Facts | Heavy.com

more at link

We need to look for bodies of water on her route.
Reposting