Ernest Gordon
By Kevin Deutsch
A Central Broward man has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with his wife’s death and the disposal of her body in a wooded area in Tamarac, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
BSO homicide detectives said that when Ernest Gordon, 44, reported his wife Wanda Gordon, 42, missing on Nov. 7, he knew she was already dead—because he’d killed her.
For two days, Dec. 2 and Dec. 3, investigators searched in the heavily wooded area of 10601 State St. in Tamarac, where Wanda Gordon’s phone was last known to be located, according to BSO.
“Following the extensive search in sometimes waist-deep muddy water, investigators recovered the victim’s cellphone and discovered skeletal remains and several articles of clothing,” deputies said in a press release Tuesday.
On Dec. 9, homicide detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Ernest Gordon. BSO Violence Intervention Proactive Enforcement Response detectives arrested Gordon on Dec. 10 at his girlfriend’s home in Lauderhill, deputies said.
According to BSO, Gordon has denied any involvement in his wife’s disappearance and death.
He was being held without bond Tuesday night in the Broward Main Jail.
Missing Persons Unit detectives first began searching for Wanda Gordon and investigating the circumstances surrounding her disappearance when her husband reported her missing on Nov. 7. The case was transferred to BSO’s Homicide Unit on Nov. 23.
Further investigation revealed that at around 12:50 a.m. on Nov. 5, Wanda Gordon returned from Fort Lauderdale Beach to her home at 2856 Northwest 8th St., in unincorporated Central Broward near Fort Lauderdale, with her husband and her three children.
Based on statements and information from a historical data search performed on Wanda Gordon’s mobile phone, investigators believed she arrived home around 1 a.m. on Nov. 5.
The records also show her phone left her residence at about 4 a.m. and traveled west to a rural area near U.S. 27 at the Broward-Palm Beach County line, where it remained until 4:50 a.m., according to BSO.
Through their investigation, detectives confirmed Ernest Gordon was in that area and that he encountered a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) officer while driving a GMC pick-up truck.
The FWC officer, who was working an off-duty detail providing security at a construction site, conducted a traffic stop on Gordon, who had entered a restricted construction area, deputies said.
The officer ran the license plate and identified Gordon, informing him that people sometimes come to the location to illegally dump their garbage.
The officer took a picture of the trash bags in the back of the truck Gordon was driving and let him go with a warning about illegal dumping.
Using Wanda Gordon’s cellphone data, homicide detectives determined that Ernest Gordon left the construction area and drove to Tamarac, where he dumped his wife’s body, according to BSO.
Additional details about the alleged murder were not made public Tuesday.
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Author Profile
- Kevin Deutsch is an award-winning crime journalist and author. A graduate of Florida International University, Kevin has worked on staff at The Miami Herald, New York Daily News, and The Palm Beach Post.
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