PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A Pasco County jury on Friday returned a guilty verdict for Colin Knapp in the murder of his girlfriend Kathleen Moore, bringing some closure to her friends and family nearly two years after she vanished.
Moore was just 34 years old when she was reported missing back in December 2021 after a night out with friends in Largo. Her lifelong friend, Nicole Wallen, told 10 Tampa Bay at the time that Moore went home with Knapp, her on-and-off boyfriend, that night and was never heard from again.
"When I woke up Monday morning and realized she hadn’t stopped, that’s when I knew something’s not right. I immediately called her phone and went straight to voicemail," Wallen said.
Authorities said Moore's cell phone was found a short time later in a dumpster by a homeless man in New Port Richey. And just more than a week after that, Moore's body was found about 50 yards from Knapp's home covered in thick brush.
Deputies searched a nearby landfill to find Knapp's clothes with blood on them. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement would later match that blood to Moore.
Now, Knapp will spend the rest of his life in prison. Wallen spoke to 10 Tampa Bay on Friday after the guilty verdict was announced.
"Relieved that after two years it's finally over. It's not all the closure we're looking for, but it's 99 percent of the closure we need," she said. "Kathleen was in the courtroom and saw him get life in prison and knows that was all the peace that we were all looking for and knows that we can all finally relax a little knowing that she got the justice she deserves."
Moore's loved ones gathered Friday night at Whiskey Wings in St. Pete, where Moore used to work, to remember her life.