Multiple agencies search for body of missing woman last seen with her ex

Search crews are combing through the woods, looking for the body of 23-year-old Hannah Brim.

Brim disappeared on Jan. 19.

The search is happening in Orange Heights near Gainesville.

Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Brandon Kutner said Brim’s ex-boyfriend Nelson Armas lives in the area.

Gainesville Police believe Armas was the last person to see Brim alive and said he’s a person of interest in her disappearance.

Armas is in Alachua County Jail right now for violating his probation on an unrelated domestic battery charge.

Gainesville Police said surveillance video shows Brim in a car with Armas on Jan. 19.

Armas is a student at Florida State College at Jacksonville. His Facebook page said he’s studying criminology.

Brim’s parents told Gainesville Police she has a history of prostitution and drug overdoses.

About 150 searchers from agencies all over the state are helping.

“They’re very large areas, but they are very specific areas. So it’s not a haphazard search. We’re using the evidence to point us in those directions,” said Tobias.

Gainesville Police spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said the search through the woods has turned up nothing so far.

“On Monday of this week, members of the criminal investigation division as well as a contingency of our SWAT members executed a search warrant on the home of Nelson Armas,” said Kutner.

Kutner said investigators found physical and electronic evidence in Armas’ home that led them to the search area.

The terrain they’re searching is so rough, outside agencies brought in trailers full of horses to help.

“Oh yeah, vines and water and everything else,” said Clarence Seay.

Seay and the other members of the Union County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Posse searched on horseback for Hannah Brim’s body Thursday.

While Seay searches on horseback, he said there’s just one thing on his mind.

“Walking up on something we don’t want to see,” said Seay. “Somebody’s got to do it.”

“Our focus right now is not only holding the person that’s responsible for this accountable, but also bringing closure to the family as quickly as possible,” said Kutner.

Brim’s family wrote a handwritten note thanking investigators and the community. Their note also asked for privacy during this difficult time.

Cox Media Group