Naman Shrestha
Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Gretchen Anthony disappeared from her Jupiter, Florida, home, sending shockwaves across the entire community. While her loved ones and the authorities searched for the missing woman, they kept their hopes alive until several months later, her remains were found not far from home. All the intricate details of the case and the investigation that ensued are covered in Investigation Discovery’s ‘Calls From the Inside: The Covid Killer,’ which also features insightful and emotional interviews with Gretchen’s loved ones and the officials involved in the investigation.
Gretchen Anthony Was a Devoted Mother and a Hardworking Human Resources Manager
On January 8, 1969, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jane and Merle Crain welcomed a pair of little bundles of joy into the world in the form of Gretchen Stoughton Crain Anthony and her twin brother, Jeffrey T. Crain. Growing up with Jeffrey and her sister, Sarah Anne, Gretchen lived in New Jersey, between West Long Branch and Wanamassa. After graduating from Shore Regional High School in 1987, she went to Wood Tobé-Coburn Fashion School in New York City. For her bachelor’s degree, she attended Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Upon finishing her studies, she served as a teacher for several years at various schools, including Wall Township Intermediate School in New Jersey; the Weiss School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; and the Wellington Preparatory School in Lake Worth, Florida.
In her personal life, Gretchen was a doting mother to Ava Rae, whose custody she shared with her ex-husband in Jupiter, Florida. Not long after her divorce, she crossed paths with David Ethan Anthony at a local gym, where he was a trainer. As sparks flew between them, their relationship soon turned into marriage in March 2015 at an Elvis chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. By the time 2020 rolled around, she was employed at Viking Utility as the Human Resources Manager. Known for being a sociable and outgoing individual, she loved spending time close to nature — on the beach and paddle-boarding with her friends. On March 21, 2020, the 51-year-old mother was supposed to have lunch with a friend. When she didn’t show up for lunch and at work on March 23, her family became concerned about her whereabouts.
Gretchen’s Remains Were Found a Few Miles Away From Her Home Months Later
On March 23, 2020, Gretchen’s family members received several text messages from her phone. One of the texts read, “Good morning. Tested positive for coronavirus early this morning. That means I have to stay here for at least two weeks…” Her workplace also received an email from her on March 24, in which she informed them of her alleged condition. Gretchen’s family received text messages over the next few days, informing them that she had been admitted to Jupiter Medical Center’s emergency department, as her condition had worsened. In another text, she claimed she had been transferred to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) medical facility. When they couldn’t get any response via phone calls, her loved ones asked the authorities to perform a welfare check at her home.
Upon searching Gretchen’s residence, the police found signs of a struggle as they noticed a broken picture frame, a stained towel, numerous bottles of cleaning agents in the kitchen, and broken pieces of glass on her bed. In the garage, they noticed a strong, pungent smell of a cleaning agent and discovered bleach stains on the floor. The detectives also found that the security cameras had been removed from the home’s walls. Upon finding Gretchen’s car in the parking lot of the Jupiter Medical Center, they discovered her purse inside and evidence of blood on the steering wheel and gearshift. What raised more concern was the fact that the hospital didn’t have a record of her being there since 2008. Several months later, on December 21, 2020, her remains were finally found behind a Walmart, about three miles away from her residence. The cause of her death was determined to be multiple stab wounds to her neck and torso.
The Killer Was Apprehended While Trying to Escape to Costa Rica
As part of the investigation, the detectives spoke with Gretchen Anthony’s family and friends to learn more about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance. They found out that David and Gretchen had gotten separated in late 2019, after which David moved in with his mother. In late February 2020, she filed for divorce, but later became concerned about her safety when David returned to the house, leading her to install security cameras at her home and garage. As per reports, the police contacted David, who told them that she was admitted to a CDC facility in Belle Glade, Florida, for COVID-19 treatment. It raised suspicions among officials because there was no CDC facility at that location. The investigators also spoke with the neighbors to see if they had heard or seen anything unusual at her place.
One of the neighbors claimed that she had heard a woman scream on the morning of March 21 as if she were being attacked. “And then I heard her scream ‘No’ and then I heard something about ‘it hurts, stop it.’ The scream was really serious,” the neighbor stated. A few neighbors had also taken photos of a black Nissan pickup truck parked near her home. It turned out that David owned a similar truck. To talk to him, the police went to his mother’s home. She told them that he had left for Costa Rica with his dog in his pickup truck on March 24. On the way, he stopped at a few jewelry stores to sell Gretchen’s jewelry, which was captured on security cameras. As they tracked Gretchen and David’s phone signals, the devices seemed to be traveling together.
Meanwhile, as the detectives delved deeper into David’s past, they learned that he was originally known as David Anthony Deutsch, who was reportedly charged with holding up a Blockbuster video store with a squirt gun and assaulting a police officer. For the crime, he had served a short-term sentence after agreeing to a plea deal. On March 28, 2020, David’s cell phone pinged in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he was pulled over by the local police, as instructed by the detectives. When he was asked about Gretchen’s whereabouts, he claimed that she had COVID-19 and was receiving treatment. Although they couldn’t take him into custody due to a lack of evidence, the Las Cruces police seized his vehicle and other belongings.
David Anthony Initially Claimed That Gretchen Was Alive
After the surveillance footage from Gretchen’s security cameras was recovered on March 30, 2020, the police finally had enough evidence against David Anthony, as the recordings showed a tall man, resembling him, on her patio, right before the murder. According to reports, after the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 virus a pandemic a week prior to her death, David tried to convince Gretchen to move to Costa Rica wth him to escape the pandemic. After she declined, he broke into her house in the early morning hours of March 21, 2020, and stabbed her to death in the garage before disposing of her remains in the wooded area behind a Walmart, a few miles away.
Thus, on the evening of March 31, while he was walking his dog, the authorities arrested him and charged him with second-degree murder and kidnapping in connection with Gretchen’s killing. During the interrogation, he initially told the detectives that Gretchen was involved in some illegal activities and was on the run as someone was after her life. They also confronted him with the text messages her family members had received from her phone and the video recordings of her house, but he maintained his story — that Gretchen was alive. On May 14, 2020, David was extradited to Jupiter, Florida, where he faced the murder trial.
David Anthony is Currently Incarcerated at a Florida Prison Facility
Nine months after Gretchen Anthony’s stabbing death, on December 21, 2020, David Anthony finally admitted to his involvement in the murder of his estranged wife as part of a plea agreement. In exchange for a lesser sentence, he confessed to the crimes and provided the location of Gretchen’s remains. On January 14, 2021, during his sentencing hearing, Gretchen’s sister, Sarah Carey, took the stand and gave a victim impact statement. Addressing the killer, she said, “You used what you did to negotiate something for yourself … You are pure evil…You stole a mother away from her child, a daughter away from her mother … You are a monster. You are a coward. … You can never be forgiven.”
The convict also provided an explanation for his actions, stating, “My illusions saw the COVID pandemic as an end of the world prophecy, an Armageddon that I felt compelled to escape no matter the cost. … Instead of being a man, I chose to be a coward. I tried to steal what wasn’t mine, and in the process, I ended a life. Her life had value, her life had meaning, and I stole that life.” Ultimately, he was sentenced to 38 years in prison with the possibility of parole. As of today, the 49-year-old killer is serving his sentence at the Martin Correctional Institution in Indiantown, Florida, with his release date scheduled for July 2056.
