Jeff Bostwick: Florida man kills woman and sends her a Facebook message wishing Happy Thanksgiving weeks later

MILTON, FLORIDA: A Florida man murdered a woman and sent her a Facebook message weeks later wishing her Happy Thanksgiving because he said it would help his mental health, a probable cause arrest affidavit stated, according to Pensacola News Journal. 

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office received a tip on Friday, February 9, from an informant who said his friend Christina Uribe had been missing for three months and he heard that 53-year-old Jeff Bostwick killed her. 

Another informant said Bostwick told her that he killed Uribe with a shotgun and that he put her body in a trailer on his lawn mower and buried her behind his shed on his five-acre property in Jay, located in Florida’s Panhandle near Pensacola, according to the affidavit.

Jeff Bostwick previously hit Christina Uribe and fired a shotgun in the air

One of the informants also alleged that Bostwick previously hit Uribe and fired a shotgun in the air in September or October of 2023. Uribe went back to Bostwick’s home a few weeks later and no one has heard from her since then. 

Uribe’s ex-boyfriend said he dropped her off at Bostwick’s home on November 3. He had taken photos of him and Uribe, who was wearing a black tank top in the car before he took her to Bostwick’s home. He told detectives that Bostwick was acting erratic and appeared to be holding a shotgun behind his back.

Jeff Bostwick had several firearms and ammunition, said police

Deputies obtained a search warrant to search Bostwick’s home and recovered several firearms and ammunition from the home. As a convicted felon, he is not allowed to possess firearms. Police also reportedly found some of Uribe’s clothing and jewelry in his home.

During an interview with investigators, Bostwick admitted that someone dropped Uribe off at his home in late October or early November but claimed she “left one day and didn’t know where she was,” the affidavit said.

After detectives told him she had been “off the grid” and hadn’t been seen or heard from since November 3, he showed them a screenshot of a Facebook message he sent her on November 23 wishing her a Happy Thanksgiving.

“Jeff stated that Christina left some of her property in the residence and hasn’t returned to get it,” the affidavit stated, adding “Jeff showed me Facebook Messages he sent to Christina after 11/3/2023, including wishing her a Happy Thanksgiving around 11/23/2023.”

With the information about the location of Uribe’s body, detectives on Saturday, February 10, followed a trail behind Bostwick’s shed. They noticed an area of hills, one of which had soft packed dirt. Police uncovered the body in the shallow grave. The body had a black tank top, which is what Uribe wore the day she went missing.

Confronted with the information that Uribe’s body was on his property, he allegedly admitted to shooting her with a shotgun and then moving the body with the trailer on the lawn mower. He drove the lawn mower until he couldn’t go any farther and buried the body, the affidavit said. Bostwick claimed he and Uribe were in his shed when she grabbed a gun and pointed it at him.

He reportedly said he grabbed his shotgun and shot her twice. A detective asked why he continued to message Uribe even after she was dead. “Jeff stated that he was doing it for his mental health and was hoping she would message back and wouldn’t be dead,” the affidavit said.

Police arrested Bostwick on a murder charge and took him to the Santa Rosa County Jail where he is being held without bond.