Husband killed wife, then enlisted niece to trick authorities into believing she was alive and living overseas: Cops

Left to right: Epifanio Ramos Gaminde, Maria Gaminde (Volusia County Sheriff's Office).

A Florida man allegedly killed his wife more than two years ago and had his niece pose as the victim to make it appear she was still alive and living in the Philippines.

Epifanio Ramos Gaminde, 48, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Maria Gaminde, who was 44 when she went missing.

The case dates back to January 2024, when Maria Gaminde's family reported her missing. She was last seen at Disney World on Dec. 16, 2023, Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.

Over the next few months, the victim's family said they were receiving text messages and emails from a person who claimed to be her, Sheriff Mike Chitwood told reporters. There were also purchases on her credit cards in the Philippines and Japan. But the family did not believe the victim, a high school teacher, was actually the one making the purchases or sending the messages.

She and her husband moved to the U.S. from the Philippines in 2008. Epifanio Gaminde told cops that he and his wife were having "marital difficulties" and she "took off" to her home country or Japan. But Chitwood said everything the suspect told detectives was a "lie."

Investigators traveled to the Philippines in search of the person using the credit cards and sending the messages. They found her; she turned out to be the suspect's niece.

She told them that around the time of Maria Gaminde's disappearance, the suspect sent her his wife's credit cards and driver's license and instructed her to pose as the victim. The niece is not facing charges because she is cooperating with authorities, Chitwood said.

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Cops also spoke with a neighbor who said the suspect was installing a fountain in his backyard at their DeBary home around the time the victim went missing. Detectives are searching the area. So far, they have not recovered a body, but they believe she is dead.

"There's nothing to indicate Maria is still alive," Chitwood said.

A grand jury indicted Epifanio Gaminde on Monday. He remains in the Volusia County Jail without bond. He is due back in court Dec. 1.