Delaware man arrested 28 years after his girlfriend was found dead in drainage ditch, stabbed 83 times

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (TCN) -- Detectives arrested a 72-year-old man in Delaware for allegedly stabbing and killing his girlfriend and leaving her body in a ditch in 1996.

According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office , on Dec. 15, 1996, deputies were called a drainage canal on U.S. 41 North in Palmetto and found a body face-down in the water. Divers recovered the body of a female with trauma on her right neck and face. The local medical examiner concluded the victim had been stabbed 83 times. The victim did not show any signs of sexual assault, nor did she have water in her lungs.

Seven months later, in May 1997, authorities positively identified the victim as 45-year-old Doris Korell by using her dental records.

Around the same time, the St. Petersburg Police Department was searching for Korell, who had been reported missing by her daughter on Dec. 11, 1996. Korell’s boyfriend, Stephen Ford, reportedly called the daughter and asked if she had seen Korell recently.

The Florida Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that Ford told investigators at the time that he and Korell got into an argument on Dec. 8, 1996, and the next night, she "uncharacteristically left to go shopping and never returned home." Korell did not show up to work the next day.

The sheriff’s office said detectives found Korell’s vehicle at a mall on Dec. 18, 1996, but there was no evidence of a struggle. They allege Ford wiped it down and left it in the parking lot. One day after Korell disappeared, Ford reportedly rented a storage unit and put his missing girlfriend’s jewelry and other belongings in it "because he didn’t want Doris' daughter to have it."

Ford reportedly said he was not involved in Korell’s disappearance. A detective reportedly asked what the punishment should be if she ended up being dead, and Ford allegedly responded, "An eye for an eye," adding, "If I killed her, I should get the death penalty."

Detectives searched Ford’s residence and "noticed what smelled like decomposition inside." They reportedly noticed new stains on the bedding, as well as a suicide note from Ford saying how he "wanted to be with Doris if she was dead." The sheriff’s office said Christmas presents had been opened "days before Christmas as if he expected Doris wouldn’t be found."

Officials returned to Ford’s home on Dec. 24, 1996, but he didn’t answer the door. Detectives went in through an open window and found him partially conscious and foaming at the mouth. He reportedly swallowed bleach in a suicide attempt.

In January 1997, detectives spoke with Ford’s ex-girlfriend, who allegedly said Ford wrote her a letter in October that said, "I hope she gets the message that I don’t want her here anymore."

The case later went cold due to a lack of evidence. Ford also relocated to Delaware around the same time.

A Manatee County Cold Case Unit detective reopened Korell’s case in 2017 and learned Korell told friends she "feared Stephen Ford." They had also been going through financial and domestic troubles.

Some of her DNA was sent to a lab for testing in July 2024. Detectives allege Ford "showed a clear pattern of consciousness of guilt," including his "deliberate actions and statements to mislead law enforcement and ultimately his attempts to commit suicide."

Ford was arrested Aug. 16 in Georgetown, Delaware, where he lived. He was extradited to Florida on Aug. 30 and booked into the Manatee County Jail for second-degree murder with a weapon.

The attorney general’s office said Ford claimed after his arrest, "My past has come up to haunt me."

MORE:

• Arrest Made in 1996 Cold Case Murder - Manatee County Sheriff's Office
• Attorney General Moody's Cold Case Investigations Unit Files Murder Charges in 1996 Homicide Case - Florida Attorney General's Office