New Smyrna Beach, FL – An anonymous tip that deputies hoped would turn up a runaway teenager turned up a lot more than that.
5 people – including a 17-year-old from New Smyrna Beach – were arrested by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office after finding the missing 16-year-old hiding under dirty laundry in a bedroom and 2 methamphetamine labs hidden in separate bedrooms.
WNDB isn’t releasing the names of the 17-year-old – who had an open warrant out for his arrest at the time on an unrelated case – or the missing teen, who is now in the custody of the Florida Department of Children & Families.
It all happened around 8:30am Sunday at a home on Edgewater Canal Road near New Smyrna Beach, according to a Volusia County Sheriff’s Office report.
A VCSO deputy was sent to the home to search for the missing teenager after getting a tip via Crime Stoppers that he was staying at the home.
Once he got on scene, that deputy entered the home through a side door in the garage after discovering that someone had apparently forced their way inside through that door, leaving the door jamb hanging down.
Per the report, the deputy called out several times to see if someone was home and then went inside when no one answered, finding the 17-year-old and 2 adults – 23-year-old Richard Wood of Edgewater and 22-year-old Tyler J. Hopwood of New Smyrna Beach – sleeping in a bedroom soon afterward.
Also in the middle of that bedroom, according to VCSO, was a meth lab, prompting the deputy to call for backup and leave the house until the East Side Narcotics Task Force got on scene, per the report.
It was after the homeowner allowed deputies to go back in to search for the missing teenager a few minutes later when another meth lab was discovered underneath a bed where 25-year-old Heather M. Nangle of New Smyrna Beach was sleeping, according to VCSO.
The other adult that was arrested in the home – 20-year-old Skyler I. Helton of New Smyrna Beach – was found sleeping in another bedroom. The report noted that Helton and Nangle lived at that home, while the others did not.
All 5 of the arrested – plus the missing teen and 2 others who were not charged by VCSO but were also found in the home – were escorted out as members of the ESNTF put on chemical suits and went into the home to dismantle the meth labs.
VCSO says they found all kinds of material used to make meth inside the home as well as a bottle with 67.5 grams of meth oil, a red Solo cup with another 133 grams of meth oil, a glass that held 105 grams of meth oil and 10 grams of marijuana under the driver’s seat of a Lincoln Town Car parked in the driveway of the residence.
The report also showed deputies finding 8 small bags with meth residue inside Nangle’s purse, a possible drug ledger, 22 small plastic bags with 1 gram of meth in each bag that was hidden in a cigarette box on the person of the 17-year-old and a homemade bong filled with 78.8 grams of an “unknown” liquid.
Part of what the suspects told deputies was redacted from the report, but none of them admitted to making meth in the parts that weren’t redacted. The report did note, however, that Nangle had been staying in the home for a week and that she’s been battling depression for the last month and a half after DCF took her children away.
As of 7pm Monday, Helton, Hopwood, Nangle and Wood remain in Volusia County Jail custody on $200,000 bond for trafficking in meth and making and/or delivering meth. The 17-year-old is in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.
All mugshots posted below are courtesy of VCJ.
Skyler I. Helton
Tyler J. Hopwood
Heather M. Nangle
Richard Wood
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