An Ormond Beach man who gave false information to sheriff's investigators after his ex-girlfriend disappeared was indicted Monday on a charge of first-degree murder, authorities said. The indictment returned by the Volusia County grand jury in DeLand also charges Michael Annicchiarico with tampering with evidence in the suspected slaying of Mandy Ciehanoski, who was last seen Feb. 7.
During the initial investigation, Annicchiarico, 34, who has a tattoo of the missing woman's name on his neck, told investigators he hadn't seen her in about two years.
"That turned out to be a lie," Gary Davidson, a spokesman for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, said in a statement released after the indictment. "Investigators turned up evidence that the two were together on Feb. 7, the day Ciehanoski disappeared."
Investigators have used dive teams and cadaver dogs to search more than a dozen locations, but the body of Ciehanoski has not been found.
Her family reported her missing on Valentine's Day. Ciehanoski, 31, was the mother of a teenage son. She had struggled with drugs and alcohol in the past, according to investigators.
A truck she was driving was found abandoned at a park on Fleming Avenue in Ormond Beach.
Annicchiarico, who worked as a day laborer for a landscaping company, was arrested a week after Ciehanoski was reported missing. He faced a variety of charges, including providing false information, grand theft, forgery and unlawful transfer of a motor vehicle title.
Sheriff's investigators said they caught Annicchiarico in several lies. Two days after Ciehanoski went missing, Annicchiarico told someone he'd hurt his hands while being thrown out of a strip club.
But when pressed by investigators, Annicchiarico insisted he hadn't been to a strip club in years. When asked tough questions about the missing woman, Annicchiarico told the investigators he hadn't seen her in years. But surveillance video showed them together on Feb. 2, Davidson said.
When Annicchiarico was charged with providing false information, Holly Hill police also charged him with stealing two electric saws from his boss. Annicchiarico admitted he took the saws, police said, but claimed he was unable to return them.
While Annicchiarico has been locked up awaiting trial on those charges, sheriff's investigators said they have been gathering physical evidence and witness interviews.
"Investigators have been methodically building a case," Davidson said.
Ciehanoski's blood and DNA were recovered from items found in Annicchiarico's trash, investigators said.
They also recovered a letter, in which Annicchiarico is accused of writing: "If I can't have you, no one will."
Investigators said blood samples from the trunk of a car Annicchiarico was driving indicate a possible match to Ciehanoski.
Prosecutors now have witnesses who will testify if the case against Annicchiarico goes to trial. Davidson said at least one friend of Annicchiarico's has given a statement that Annicchiarico admitted killing Ciehanoski.
"A jail inmate also has come forward to tell investigators that while incarcerated, Annicchiarico divulged to him that he had killed Ciehanoski," he added.
Annicchiarico remains held without bail.
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