She left England believing she had arranged her own death. On October 10, 2025, Sonia Exelby landed in Gainesville, Florida, to meet a man she knew only from an extreme fetish forum. She booked a return flight for three days later. She never boarded it. Investigators followed her debit card trail to a roadside assistance worker. A shallow grave in rural Florida ended the search.
Sonia Exelby was born on July 22, 1993, in Portsmouth, England. She lived with her partner of nearly fifteen years, Stevie Hunt. She played guitar, performed at open-mic nights, and spoke about building a music career. Online, she shared her interests in music, gaming, and daily life, presenting as energetic and engaged.
Privately, she struggled for years with depression and disordered eating. Friends later confirmed she often spoke about hopelessness and self-harm. Over time, her online activity slowed, then nearly disappeared.
In July 2024, Sonia briefly returned to Facebook. She posted that she was ready to focus on music again and asked for a producer and musicians to help record her work. To those around her, it appeared she was recovering. Investigators later found that, at the same time, she was active in encrypted chat groups and fetish forums centered on extreme violence and assisted death.
That year, she planned to travel to the United States to meet someone from those spaces, but the plan was intercepted before her departure and she received treatment. Months later, she resumed contact online in secrecy. Recovered messages showed she was searching for someone willing to kill her, discussing payment, secrecy, and travel arrangements.
By late 2025, she had finalized a meeting in Florida and booked her flight without telling anyone close to her.
The man she arranged to meet was Dwayne Hall, a 53-year-old Florida resident who operated a small roadside assistance business. Online, he used the name “Alphacadist” on motherless.com, a forum known for extreme fetish content. Investigators later confirmed Sonia and Hall had been in contact for nearly two years. Their conversations moved from bondage to discussions about killing. Sonia offered payment, including help resolving Hall’s IRS debt in exchange for him ending her life.
During later interviews, Hall claimed she was also expected to bring $4,000 in cash, but she arrived with only the funds available on her bank card.
They also discussed a cover story to shield him afterward.
On October 10, 2025, hours before Sonia’s flight landed, Hall used his bank card at a Walmart in Gainesville to buy paracord, rope, gun cleaner, deodorant spray, and a shovel. Surveillance footage showed him collecting each item. That evening, a license-plate reader captured his vehicle entering Gainesville Regional Airport minutes after Sonia’s flight arrived. He picked her up and drove her to the Airbnb at 16293 Northwest 122nd Terrace, booked under her name.
Inside the property, Sonia sent messages to a Discord friend stating she was scared, that her phone was being taken, and that there was no way out. That friend reported the messages to authorities once Sonia disappeared.
A deleted video recovered from Hall’s phone showed Sonia inside the Airbnb, visibly bruised, crying, and wearing the same clothes she had arrived in.
Hall’s voice was heard off camera directing her to explain why she was there. Sonia stated she was an “awful person” and that she had agreed to be stabbed.
When she said, “You’ve beaten me,” Hall immediately asked whether that was what she wanted.
He then instructed her to confirm she was not being forced and to state that this was how she wanted to die. Sonia complied.
Investigators later classified the recording as evidence of coercion rather than voluntary consent.
Sometime between October 11 and October 12, Sonia Exelby was stabbed multiple times inside the Airbnb. Hall transported her body to a wooded area in rural Marion County and buried her in a shallow grave.
When Sonia failed to board her return flight on October 13, concern grew in England. Stevie Hunt reported her missing. British authorities contacted Florida law enforcement, and a missing-person investigation began. The first solid lead came from Sonia’s bank records. Seven attempted debit-card charges to a small roadside assistance business in Florida appeared within ten minutes. Only one transaction succeeded a $1,200 payment. The business belonged to Dwayne Hall.
Detectives called Hall on October 13. He denied knowing Sonia. The next day, he repeated the denial in person, claiming he had only spoken to an unknown woman needing roadside help and never met her. His story shifted when investigators confronted him with transaction records showing Sonia’s card had paid him directly. He then invented a second story involving a fictional wealthy client who supposedly hired him and arranged his stay at the same Airbnb Sonia booked. Each version contradicted the last.
Investigators searched the Airbnb with the owner’s consent. It had not been cleaned. Inside, they found receipts for Hall’s Walmart purchases, food containers traced to nearby restaurants, and personal items belonging to Sonia. License-plate data and surveillance footage placed Hall’s vehicle at both the airport and the Airbnb.
Search teams focused on an area Hall claimed he had visited alone. Cadaver dogs alerted on disturbed soil in a wooded section of Marion County. Excavation revealed human remains. Fingerprint analysis confirmed the body was Sonia Exelby.
A shovel recovered from Hall’s garage still carried soil and reddish-brown stains. His fingerprints were on the handle. Testing confirmed it had been used to dig Sonia’s grave. Further searches uncovered a knife Hall had sent to a friend for safekeeping. The blade carried Sonia’s blood. DNA from both Sonia and Hall was found on a bracelet packaged with it. The knife was engraved with Hall’s online alias.
On October 18, 2025, the medical examiner completed the autopsy. Sonia had died from four sharp-force injuries. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Hall was first arrested on charges of credit-card fraud and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. As forensic results returned, he was formally charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder. During his initial court appearance, the judge denied bond, citing the weight of evidence and risk of flight. He remains in custody awaiting trial.
Sonia Exelby left England believing she had arranged her own death. She became instead the victim of a man who exploited that vulnerability and buried the evidence in Florida soil.
The investigation closed with a complete digital and forensic trail. Hall’s phone records confirmed long-term contact with Sonia. Deleted messages detailed payment discussions and planning. Store receipts, license-plate data, surveillance footage, DNA, and tool marks aligned into a single timeline. No alternative suspect emerged. No evidence supported Hall’s shifting stories.
British and American authorities coordinated to return Sonia’s remains to her family. In Portsmouth, her partner identified her belongings. The case moved from missing-person alert to homicide prosecution in less than two weeks, driven by electronic records and physical evidence left behind.
Dwayne Hall now faces trial in Florida. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment. The court proceedings remain pending.
