The Mims man accused of dumping the body of missing Palm Bay woman Marissa Garcia is facing a new set of felony charges after Marion County deputies say a dispute over a Chihuahua ended in a violent home invasion. The July 11 arrest comes to light just as the Brevard County case against him has quietly narrowed, with most of the original charges now disposed of and only two felony counts left standing.
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Stefan Paul Eide, 33, and Sharon Ann Yeager, 22, were each arrested in Marion County on charges of occupied burglary with assault or battery, robbery by sudden snatching and criminal mischief causing more than $1,000 in damage, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. The case was first reported by the Voice of South Marion.
Investigators say the trouble began July 11, when deputies responded to a civil dispute over ownership of a Chihuahua mix. Deputies advised the parties that the matter was civil after the victim refused to hand over the dog, and Eide and Yeager left the property. Only minutes later, according to the sheriff’s office, the victim was awakened by the sound of shattering glass.
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Authorities allege Eide forced his way inside by breaking a sliding glass door, struck the victim several times in the head and body with what the victim described as a hard metal object, and grabbed the victim’s cellphone to keep him from calling 911. Deputies say Yeager then entered the home, took the dog and fled with Eide. The victim suffered bruising to his arms and torso and cuts to his ear and head but declined medical treatment, the report states. Investigators put the total property loss, including the stolen cellphone, the damaged door and a vehicle windshield, at roughly $1,500.
According to the arrest affidavit, detectives later reviewed body camera footage from the earlier civil call. Eide reportedly told a deputy he had come to retrieve the dog “before he had to deal with it himself.” After deputies explained the dispute was civil, investigators say Eide stated, “I’m willing to get arrested for beating the shit out of him,” and, “I’m willing to get the outlaws involved if I have to.” Those remarks were made about five minutes before the reported break-in, the affidavit says. Deputies noted Eide was carrying a flashlight, which investigators believe may have been the object used in the assault.
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Yeager told detectives she believed the sheriff’s office had failed to help her recover the dog and admitted the pair returned after deputies left. She claimed they heard the victim abusing the dog, saying, “that is why we broke in,” and alleged the victim attacked Eide first once they were inside. Eide invoked his right to an attorney and did not give a statement, according to the affidavit.
The new arrest drew fresh attention to the status of the Brevard County case that first put Eide’s name in the news. Eide was arrested in December 2025 following a year-long Palm Bay Police Department investigation into the December 2023 disappearance of Marissa Garcia, 25. He was originally booked on six counts: two felony charges of tampering with physical evidence and four misdemeanors, including illegal transportation of human remains, failure to report a death, improper disposal of a human body and soliciting lewdness.
Court records show that on Feb. 11, 2026, prosecutors formally filed only the two third-degree felony counts of tampering with evidence and disposed of the four misdemeanors. Asked why, a spokesman for the State Attorney’s Office of the 18th Judicial Circuit told The Space Coast Rocket that the Palm Bay investigation was complex and took a year to complete, and that the statute of limitations had run out on all of the misdemeanor charges before they could be filed.
Eide remains charged with the two felony counts, one tied to the disposal of Garcia’s body and the other to the disposal of her cellphone, the spokesman said. The sheriff’s jail records show Eide bonded out of the Brevard County Jail two days after his December arrest.
Garcia, last seen in Palm Bay in the early morning hours of Dec. 24, 2023, has never been found. Investigators have said Eide told them he arranged a paid encounter with Garcia, drove her to a park and that she became unresponsive, after which he did not call for help and later abandoned her body near Hammock Road in Mims. Her remains have not been recovered.
Eide and Yeager are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The Space Coast Rocket will continue to follow both cases.
