A missing-person case in Marion County is now being investigated as a homicide, say deputies.

DUNNELLON, Fla. — A 25-year-old Florida man is being held without bond after deputies said the search for his missing father led investigators to human remains buried behind the home they shared.

Andres Bahamon was charged with tampering with evidence in the disappearance of his father, 43-year-old Andres Bahamon-Prada, who had not been seen since May 7. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office began investigating May 16 after Bahamon-Prada’s family reported him missing. Deputies later said they found signs of foul play and began treating the case as a homicide investigation, though the remains found at the property had not been publicly identified.

The case moved from a family’s missing-person concern to a criminal investigation over several days in mid-May. Bahamon-Prada’s mother told investigators she last saw her son on May 7, when he visited her in Williston and then went to the gym. When she could not reach him, she texted her grandson to ask where his father was. According to court documents described by local reports, Bahamon first said he did not know. He also made a strange statement that his father was “preventing the flower from blooming,” a phrase investigators included as they traced the father’s last known contacts.

Deputies returned to the case with new urgency after the grandmother said she later saw Bahamon at a store and that he admitted killing his father. A corporal went to the home on Northwest 225th Avenue in Dunnellon, where Bahamon and Bahamon-Prada lived together. An arrest report said the corporal saw a shattered back glass door with what appeared to be a bullet hole, a bullet casing near the porch, another possible bullet strike near steps and a stain on the steps nearby. Those observations helped detectives seek a search warrant for the home and yard.

When detectives searched the property, they focused on an area of freshly disturbed dirt in the backyard. After digging, they found a large rolled carpet that officials said was suspected to contain human remains. The sheriff’s office said the remains had not yet been identified, leaving the official cause and manner of death unknown. Authorities also had not announced a murder charge as of the latest public reports. Bahamon was described as a person of interest in his father’s disappearance and was booked into the Marion County Jail on the evidence-tampering count.

Investigators also reviewed family communications that police said placed Bahamon at the center of the disappearance inquiry. Court documents said Bahamon’s mother, who lives in Germany, received what appeared to be a photo of Bahamon-Prada’s body. She then sent the image to Bahamon-Prada’s mother and told her to contact authorities. The grandmother later asked Bahamon whether her son was dead or alive. Court documents said Bahamon replied, “I think he’s dead.” Investigators said Bahamon made several statements that appeared to connect him to his father’s death, though police said he did not cooperate when deputies brought him in for questioning.

The Dunnellon property brought another layer of attention because human remains had been found there once before, in an unrelated case. WESH reported that in 2009, the torso of a woman was found in a burn pit in the same backyard. Zachary Snyder, who said the woman was like a grandmother to him, later pleaded guilty to murder in that case. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said the earlier case and the current investigation are not connected. Property owners Cindy and Shawn Wilkey told WESH they bought the home in 2017 and had been renting it to Bahamon-Prada since last November.

The investigation also included a missing vehicle. Deputies said they were working to locate Bahamon-Prada’s silver 2007 Infiniti M35 because it could contain important evidence. The vehicle had not been recovered in the earliest public reports about the case. Detectives had not said whether the car was believed to have been used before or after Bahamon-Prada disappeared, and they had not released a full timeline showing where the father went after leaving the gym on May 7.

Bahamon’s case now moves through court while the homicide investigation continues. He is scheduled to appear in court June 23. Prosecutors had not announced additional charges as of the latest reports, and investigators had not released forensic results identifying the remains. The next major steps include confirmation from the medical examiner, evidence review from the Dunnellon property and any decision by prosecutors on whether to file more serious charges.

The case stands with Bahamon held in jail without bond, Bahamon-Prada still listed in reports as missing and detectives treating the discovery behind the home as part of a homicide investigation. The June 23 court date is the next scheduled public milestone.

Author note: Last updated June 19, 2026.