BAY COUNTY, Fla. — Two associates of a York man found dead in Panama City, Florida over the weekend have been charged in connection with his death, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.
Police said the body of 25-year-old Mark Jankiewicz was found Saturday afternoon wrapped up in a blanket on a picnic table with multiple puncture wounds to the neck.
An investigation revealed that Jankiewicz was released from Bay County Jail Friday evening and two of his associates, 23-year-old Kayla Kostick and 28-year-old Emilio Sifuenties Jack, of Pennsylvania, were with him later that night.
Police issued a lookout for Kostick and Jack and the victim’s vehicle, which they were believed to be driving. They were then located and a traffic stop was initiated.
When interviewed, police said Kostick gave what investigators believed was a rehearsed statement. She then changed her statement and told investigators she and Jack were driving around with Jankiewicz when they went to a boat ramp on the western side of Hathaway Bridge, which connects Panama City with Panama City Beach.
Kostick advised that the three were talking when Jack suddenly attacked Jankiewicz and placed his hands around his neck.
Jack then pulled a screwdriver out of his pocket and dropped it. He told Kostick to pick it back up and when she handed it to him, he allegedly stabbed Jankiewicz in the neck with the screwdriver. He’s accused of using a second screwdriver to stab him against.
Jankiewicz’s body was then wrapped in a blanket and left at a picnic table. Police said Jack then tossed the screwdrivers into St. Andrew Bay toward the Navy Base.
Sifuenties was uncooperative with investigators, according to police, but another person that spoke with authorities said that the blanket wrapped around the victim’s body was in the bed of the Jankiewicz’s truck, which the two were driving.
Police noted that the Bay County Sheriff’s Office’s Dive Team quickly located both screwdrivers Sunday morning in the bay, exactly where Kostick described they were thrown.
A motive is unknown, but police said it’s believed alcohol and drugs were involved.
Kostick has been charged with principal to premeditated murder while Jack faces a murder charge. Both were taken to Bay County Jail.
