Authorities have not announced a murder charge as forensic work continues in Marion County.
DUNNELLON, Fla. — A Marion County evidence-tampering case is moving toward a June court date while deputies investigate whether human remains found behind a Dunnellon home are tied to a missing father.
Andres Bahamon, 25, is jailed without bond after deputies said evidence connected him to the disappearance of his father, 43-year-old Andres Bahamon-Prada. The case has not yet produced a publicly announced murder charge. Instead, Bahamon faces a tampering with evidence count while the sheriff’s office continues a homicide investigation, waits on identification of remains and searches for a silver 2007 Infiniti M35 that belonged to the missing man.
The criminal case began after Bahamon-Prada’s family said he had not been seen since May 7. His mother told authorities he visited her in Williston that day and then went to the gym. When she later could not reach him, she contacted Bahamon. According to court documents, Bahamon said he did not know where his father was. The family reported Bahamon-Prada missing May 16, and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said deputies soon found evidence that indicated foul play.
The evidence-tampering allegation appears to center on what deputies found after following up on family statements. Bahamon-Prada’s mother said she saw Bahamon at a store more than a week after her son disappeared and that he said he had killed him. A corporal then went to the home Bahamon shared with his father on Northwest 225th Avenue. An arrest report said the corporal saw a broken back glass door with what looked like a bullet hole, a bullet casing near the porch, another possible bullet impact near steps and a nearby stain.
Those observations helped detectives obtain a search warrant. During the search, they found freshly disturbed dirt in the backyard. When they dug into the area, they uncovered a large rolled carpet suspected to contain human remains. The sheriff’s office said the remains had not yet been identified in the first public reports. Without that identification, authorities had not publicly confirmed that the remains were Bahamon-Prada, and the medical examiner had not publicly released a cause or manner of death.
Digital and family evidence also appears likely to shape the prosecution’s early case. Police said court documents included several statements Bahamon allegedly made about his father. Investigators said Bahamon’s mother, who lives in Germany, received what looked like a photo of Bahamon-Prada’s body. She sent the image to Bahamon-Prada’s mother, who then sought answers from Bahamon. The grandmother asked whether her son was alive. Court documents said Bahamon gave an answer that suggested he believed his father was dead. Deputies later found Bahamon and interviewed him, but police said he did not cooperate.
The legal limits of the case remain important. A tampering charge can move forward before investigators finish a homicide case because it deals with alleged interference with evidence. It does not require prosecutors to prove in that first charge who killed Bahamon-Prada. The public record described by police does not yet include a filed murder count, a named weapon, a final autopsy result or a complete account of what happened after Bahamon-Prada left his mother on May 7. Those gaps may be addressed as forensic and digital evidence are reviewed.
The missing vehicle is another unresolved part of the investigation. Deputies described Bahamon-Prada’s car as a silver 2007 Infiniti M35 and said it could contain important evidence. They did not publicly say whether the vehicle might show where Bahamon-Prada went after he was last seen, whether it was moved from the Dunnellon property or whether it could contain physical evidence from before or after the suspected killing. Its location could help investigators test the timeline built from family statements and the search of the home.
The property itself has drawn attention because of a past case at the same address, but deputies said the earlier matter is unrelated. In 2009, the torso of a woman was found in a burn pit in the same backyard. Zachary Snyder later pleaded guilty to murder in that case. The current owners told WESH they bought the property in 2017 and had rented it to Bahamon-Prada since last November. The sheriff’s office has not suggested the old case has any bearing on the disappearance of Bahamon-Prada.
Bahamon’s next court appearance is scheduled for June 23. Before then, investigators may receive more information from the medical examiner and from crime-scene processing. Prosecutors also may review whether the evidence supports additional charges. The defense posture was not clear from the first public reports, and there was no public statement from Bahamon addressing the allegations in court.
For now, the case remains split between a filed evidence charge and a broader homicide investigation. Bahamon is held without bond, Bahamon-Prada’s disappearance remains under investigation and the June 23 court date is the next scheduled public step.
Author note: Last updated June 19, 2026.