SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – The court-appointed guardian of a Cape Coral dementia patient has been charged after the woman was found dead in 2025 near the side of a road, Cape Coral Police say.
Lori Hamilton, 60, is being charged with disturbing a dead body, according to arrest records.
According to the affidavit, on May 20, 2025, Hamilton reported her friend, Brenda Corbin, 59, was missing. Hamilton was Corbin’s court-appointed guardian; Corbin was diagnosed with dementia and was living with Hamilton.
Hamilton allegedly told police she last saw Corbin the night before, noticing she was not in the house that morning. Hamilton said Corbin did not own a cell phone and did not have a car. Hamilton said she drove around looking for Corbin before calling the police, the affidavit said.
Officers canvassed the area without success. A bloodhound briefly picked up her trail but lost the scent.
On May 22, search warrants were issued for Hamilton’s truck, home and phone. A DNA sample from Hamilton was also collected.
A search of Hamilton’s pickup truck found Corbin’s wallet and belongings. The affidavit also said K-9 units detected the odor of human remains “at or near the rear of the tailgate” of Hamilton’s pickup truck.
A partial download of Hamilton’s cell phone showed location records consistent with license plate reader data that showed the truck had been near the location where the body was found.
“A historical check of Hamilton’s vehicle for the years 2024 through 2025 did not show any LPR (license plate reader) hits in the above-listed area and did not show any hits after 11 p.m. during the same period,” the affidavit said.
On May 23, Corbin’s nude decomposing body was found in bushes near Bermont Road and Chiquita Drive in Cape Coral. There were marks in the grass near the body that indicated she had been dragged from the edge of the road. A leather belt was found between the road and the body.
The medical examiner’s office said it could not determine the cause of death, the affidavit said.
Detectives say Hamilton and Corbin had been friends since high school. Corbin had been living in assisted living facilities but had escaped such a facility in Fort Myers and had recently attempted to jump a fence at another facility in Tampa.
Hamilton said she decided to check Corbin out of the Tampa facility. However, in interviews with staff at the Tampa facility, investigators discovered that Hamilton would not allow doctors to adjust Corbin’s medication, causing behavioral issues.
On May 2, Hamilton checked Corbin out of the facility.
Corbin’s children told detectives they last talked to their mother on May 16, when she called them using Hamilton’s phone. The children said Corbin told then Hamilton would tell her where she was. Hamilton then gets on the phone, apologizes and hangs up.
Since the medical examiner could not determine the cause of death, the affidavit said Hamilton “intended to conceal the death and altered the evidence and/or circumstances surrounding the death of Brenda Corbin.”
Hamilton remains in the Charlotte County Jail on $6,000 bond, jail records indicated Monday.
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