DEBARY, Fla. — A Volusia County man has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the disappearance of his wife, who has not been seen or heard from by family members since January 2024.
Epifanio IX Ramos Gaminde was arrested at approximately 11 a.m. Monday, October 26, 2026, in DeBary following an extensive investigation that included international travel, financial records and evidence suggesting someone had been impersonating his missing wife.
His wife, Maria Cecilia Gaminde, remains missing, and her body has not been recovered.
A grand jury indicted Gaminde on a charge of first-degree murder. He is being held without bond at the Volusia County Branch Jail and is also subject to an immigration detainer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Husband Claimed Missing Wife Moved to Japan or Philippines
According to Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood and FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Jason Carley, Maria’s family and friends became concerned after losing confirmed contact with her in January 2024.
Detectives with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office were assigned the missing-person investigation on July 16, 2024.
When investigators questioned her husband, he claimed the couple had been experiencing marital problems and that Maria had voluntarily left their DeBary home.
He suggested she was living in either Japan or the Philippines.
However, family members questioned that explanation.
They told investigators that text messages and other communications supposedly sent by Maria did not sound like her. Her language, behavior and communication patterns differed from what relatives and friends had come to expect.
Investigators Found No Evidence Maria Left the United States
Detectives with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office Major Case Unit conducted interviews, executed search warrants and subpoenas, and examined financial transactions, cellphone records, social media accounts and emails.
The investigation uncovered several findings that contradicted the husband’s account.
Authorities found no evidence that Maria had left the United States.
They also identified inconsistencies involving social media activity and financial accounts attributed to her.
Investigators developed evidence suggesting a coordinated effort to make it appear that Maria was alive, living overseas and deliberately avoiding contact with family members, friends and law enforcement.
Those findings led detectives to investigate who might have been sending messages or posting online under Maria’s identity.
Detectives Travel to Philippines to Investigate Suspected Impersonation
As the investigation expanded, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office coordinated with federal authorities and international partners in Japan and the Philippines.
Investigators suspected someone connected to the defendant might have been helping maintain the appearance that Maria was alive.
Members of the Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office for Florida’s Seventh Judicial Circuit traveled to the Philippines to gather evidence and interview individuals connected to the investigation.
During that trip, detectives interviewed a cooperating individual who provided information authorities described as crucial to the case.
The international investigation contributed to the evidence presented to the grand jury, which ultimately indicted Epifanio Gaminde for first-degree murder.
Detectives Search Property for Missing Woman’s Remains
Despite the murder charge, Maria’s body has not been found.
Investigators have searched the family’s property in DeBary after receiving information that Gaminde had been performing extensive work around the home during the period surrounding his wife’s disappearance.
Authorities also disclosed that Gaminde had previously been arrested on two separate occasions involving domestic violence.
The couple came to the United States together in 2008 and have three young children.
Investigators said Gaminde has not cooperated with the investigation.
The arrest follows more than two years of investigative work by the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, FBI and prosecutors.
Gaminde remains in custody awaiting further court proceedings on the first-degree murder charge.